Winter, Summer
by not eren jaeger
Summary: Eren wanders into the ice skating rink in search of his hockey player friend Jean to confront him on how big of an asshole he is when instead he finds out hockey practice has been canceled and there's someone else skating gracefully across the ice as if he were taking a walk in the park. Ice skating Levi, College AU. This first chapter was based off an RP prompt with a friend.
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT: Figured out how to update old chapters. All the chapters have been proof read (finally) so hopefully there aren't as many errors as there was before. Thanks to tumblr user x-j9 who helped proofread the story. I've also provided spacers for time gaps.**

**You can check me out and request a prompt on my tumblr yhanyu.**

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He wasn't at all particularly interested in ice-skating, or anything remotely related to ice. Eren hated the cold and would have much preferred the sweltering heat of his home country, Japan. He didn't know why he ended up wandering to the skating rink—maybe because Jean played hockey and he had wanted to confront him over something. That usually was the reason for his appearance at the rink, to bicker with Jean. However, what he found in the rink wasn't the two toned blond, but someone else.

And god was he beautiful. His movements were so graceful; Eren never thought he'd found ice-skating so attractive before. He stood there, watching, not moving a muscle so as not to disturb the talented stranger before him.

He had just done a triple spin before landing. He nearly had to lay a hand down on the ice to maintain his balance but apparently it wasn't needed. As he got ready to do another spin (that of which the names Eren knew none of) he did this move with his arms and spun his body upward and landed even more graceful than the first time. After he landed, he began to skate backwards around the rink twice before skidding off to the side to grab his drink of water.

What was he doing anyway? His earlier goal of confronting Jean had flown right out of the window and into the snow outside as he walked toward the ice skater, his mind muddy.

"Hello," he blurted out. What would he say? _Hi, you're really good at ice-skating! _Jesus Christ.

"You did really good jumps," he said. Wow, that was even worse than what he should've said.

The figure skater just finished his break and looked liked he had intended on practicing some more when low and behold, he, some stranger decided to approach him and start up a conversation.

The man looked like he was used to it. Probably got comments all the time about 'how beautiful of a skater he was' or 'how he should be in the pros,' or other bullshit he's heard before.

He shot him a flat stare as he said plainly, "Thanks. You skate?"

"No," He said, and thought how stupid that sounded. "No, I just came here to see a friend of mine—he plays hockey, but I guess I came a bit early since you're here."

Sitting on one of the nearby seats, Eren studied the stranger for a bit, thinking of what he should say.

The stranger barely lifted a brow. Eren figured it wasn't every day that he got a male visitor and that the days he did it was probably one of Jean's dumb hockey friends who thought there was practice that day.

It's not like Eren had shown up in hopes of finding a figure skater, but after seeing the short performance that he did, he was glad to have seen it instead of bickering with Jean.

"What's your name, kid," he said dryly as he leaned over the side of the rink.

That 'kid' part almost made his eyebrow twitch. The stranger looked young, perhaps not as young as he was—but since they were on campus grounds he figured the other would be a college student like himself.

"Eren," He responded nonetheless. If he had been more tactless, he would have commented about the man's lack of height. "I'm Eren Jaeger. What's your name?"

It almost looked like it took a bit of strength for him to suppress a growing smirk to his reaction of being called a kid.

"Levi," he said eventually. "If you're waiting for your hockey friend, practice was canceled completely today, they won't be here at 2:30 so if you're intention was to wait for him, you're wasting your time." His answer came off a bit cold. He thought it was probably all the ice going to his head.

Levi started to skid off onto the ice and began doing some warm ups.

It was still early and today was his off day. He could have just played video games instead of wait around in the damn cold, but hey, watching Levi was actually pretty nice. It wasn't as raw and unnerving like Sasha's archery skills or his sister's sword play—and he's so used to that kind of thing; the too physical aspect of sports. Figure skating was much calmer, graceful in fact.

"What a fucking snow queen," he muttered to himself, smiling a little as he continued to watch.

"I fucking heard that," Levi griped as he landed a triple spin effortlessly and moved into a backspin.

He could tell that Levi was tough, though. His outfit was so tight that he could see his triceps, biceps, and abs. He figured as much, he's probably landed a few in the hospital. He wasn't about to doubt what damage the short figure skater could do because quite frankly, he didn't want to learn the hard way by earning himself two casts for his legs.

Eren didn't know how long it'd been since he strolled into the skating rink, but Levi was too focused on his jumps and spins to probably even notice that he was still there.

Another half hour or so passed by when Levi skidded off the rink and sat down to take off his skates when he looked up to see that Eren was still there sitting in the same spot.

"You're still here?" he asked only a bit shocked. Even Eren knew visitors come and go and don't normally stay for majority of the practices. Even when he went to Jean's hockey practices, some of the teammate's girlfriends didn't stay the whole time.

"Yep," he replied casually, cracking a smile. "It's nice watching you skate," even if Levi was a little shit, Eren really did enjoy watching him. "Well I guess this is my cue to go," standing up; Eren stretched feeling sleepy all of a sudden. This was what he hated the most about the cold, it made him so much more tired.

"Maybe I can get to see you again sometime, watch you compete even. That would be nice," He grinned as he stepped down, feeling light as he descended.

This time Levi cracked a smirk, "Just a sec," he said as he reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a pen and ripped paper. His skates were completely off as he walked closer to Eren and wrote down a date on the paper. He looked up and handed him the paper and without those skates, the height difference was even more obvious and it took a lot in Eren to not comment on it.

"That's my next competition," he said as he walked back to toss the pen into his bag.

"I'll buy you a coffee, or hot chocolate or whatever kids drink. Jeez, you look freezing, are you really not that used to the cold?" he mentioned.

Eren blinked before staring at the piece of paper, which registered a string of numbers and words. He would have liked it even better if Levi had written down his number as well.

"No, I hate winter," he said, tucking the paper away in his pocket before burying his hands inside as well. "I like summer better," he admitted. His sport was swimming so naturally he preferred the warm and sunny seasons to cold harsh ones any day.

"It's fine, I'd rather just get back to my warm room, and the cold makes me tired too. Plus, I don't have to get myself called a 'kid' by some snow queen."

Levi scoffed at the remark.

"Right, haven't heard that one before from all your hockey player friends," he put his skates away and hoisted the duffel bag onto his shoulder and began walking with Eren toward the exit.

"And besides, you probably are a kid, do you even go here?" he asked as he jabbed a finger into Eren's arm. Normally he wouldn't be this chatty with someone he'd just met, but Levi grinded his gears and fascinated him all at the same time so it really just couldn't be helped.

"I only have _one _hockey player friend and he's an asshole most of the time,"

"Yeah well, they're still all assholes to me," Levi muttered.

Eren said as he rolled his eyes and fell in sync with Levi's steps. "And I do go here, I'm a sophomore as part of an exchange student program." Once they were out of the building Eren shivered immediately as the wind began to pick up.

"I'm an engineer major, how about you?"

"Senior, fine arts," he stated simply. He figured that he was a senior what with him calling him a kid the whole time. That much was at least somewhat apparent.

They approached what he guessed to be Levi's car and he fished his keys out of his pocket.

"My apartment is that way," he pointed as he unlocked the trunk and set down his duffel bag. But first he grabbed a pen and walked back to reach for Eren's hand.

At first Eren was a bit confused when he snatched it so suddenly and started scribbling all over it. When he got his palm back there was a string of neat numbers scrawled all over it and he smiled almost stupidly. He was an idiot for being this happy.

"I'm going to text you if your asshole friends keep bugging me during practice," an obvious lie. He opened his car door and slid inside.

"I'll be seeing you around, kid," he smirked as he started his car and drove off.

"See you around, snow queen," he called after. Damn, he really couldn't wipe that stupid grin off his face. When he was sure Levi couldn't see him anymore he couldn't help but jump a bit in joy and he almost skipped (and slipped) away as he stared at the number on his hand. When he finally got to the comforts of his dorm, he brought out his cell phone and entered the number, quickly typing in a message.

_I hope you didn't see me jumping in joy when you left, _he keyed in, laughing a bit, not caring that he was that honest with Levi.

He was glad that he made a new friend; at least, to him they were friends. Hell, he gave him his number of course they were! His personality, though it wasn't the best, was refreshing compared to all his friends. He could talk to him as a person but he could still bicker with him without ending up in a fistfight like with Jean.

He realized he hadn't had any senior friends before, the oldest friend he had was probably a junior named Reiner. The guy was big, big enough to be a senior and he was the star player of the football team. How he came to be his friend, he didn't know.

A shiver interrupted his thoughts and he decided to make something warm. Coffee was out of the question since the caffeine would have him up all night, so he opted for a hot chocolate.

As he grabbed for a mug in his kitchenette and a chocolate packet from the cupboards, there came a small buzz from his phone on the couch and he hated himself a little bit for running a little too fast (and too clumsy) to retrieve his phone and open up the text.

_Totally did. And you call me the snow queen._

Another lie he guessed as a widespread grin began to form on his face. He opened up another message as he began to type

_Liar. And you are one._

He removed his coat and sat on the couch, completely forgetting about the hot chocolate on the counter.

Armin was out, probably in the library again so he had the room to himself. He thought about calling him but that was too much for him to handle, even if there was nobody around to hear him. He already felt like he was bugging him for texting him so fast; they did just meet after all. It was bad to let Levi know that he had gotten him so interested so quickly.

Sighing, Eren stared at his phone, wishing he had said yes to Levi's offer to a drink earlier.

His phone buzzed as he read the message on his screen and let out a rather loud laugh.

_Snow queen my ass, this shit isn't Frozen._

It took a moment to regain his composure when another message came in.

_I'm practicing a full routine tomorrow if you wanted to see some actual skills._

Actual skills? What, the performance he saw today wasn't the full thing? Jeez, this guy must've been amazing. He tried to remember what his schedule was tomorrow and he grumbled loudly as he remembered he had a morning and afternoon class.

He still couldn't help but feel a little overjoyed that Levi decided to invite him to watch him practice. He actually wanted his company there and he felt a little fuzzy that he even thought about him enough to invite him to a practice.

Reluctantly, he opened up a message and began to type.

_I have a morning and afternoon class tomorrow, sorry._

He scratched his head in frustration. He wanted to go, badly. He thought about skipping class just to go watch him but that was a bad move. He didn't want to jeopardize anything I his curriculum. Surely Mikasa would scold him for missing classes anyway.

He figured if he left fifteen minutes early and ran all the way to the ice rink he'd catch him just in time before he left. He would have to go for it.

_But I can drop by when you've finished, maybe treat you to something for your hard work?_

He wondered what a fine arts major even did in his spare time. Eren began to wonder what Levi's daily routine was; wake up at six sharp, scribble down some poetry, stare at the sky, paint the Mona Lisa, skate, paint some more, go to sleep. Yes, he concluded that this was the life of the oh so mysterious Levi.

A minute later and his phone popped up with a message.

_I see how it is, turn down my offer to treat you, only to have you pick up where I should have left off? Boy are you smooth._

He grinned reading through the message and let out a laugh before reading the rest.

_But sure, kid. I get off same time as today._

A second later

_Sorry, not kid. I meant to say Mr. Man._

Eren couldn't help but roll his eyes. Levi's dry humor and scarcasm rocketed through the roof and into outer space. He could only imagine him being booed out of a comedy club and then beating up everyone that had booed him.

He decided to let him know about the little coffee shop near the campus and even pointed out the amazing croissants they served there. He was met back with a rather embarrassing reply that made him blush a bit.

_Croissants on a first date? Aren't you fancy. Keep this up and I'll be swooning. Gotta get to bed, night._

He typed back a simple good night after and threw his phone across the room. What the fuck was with that stupid first date comment it's not like it was a first date, it wasn't _even _a date. Eren decided not to let it bother him because he was gonna see him tomorrow anyway. Might as well not make anything more awkward than he was. Eren's whole life was just awkward. He was a big awkward mess who flailed his arm a bit too often.

He took a quick shower before sitting back on the couch to end the night with some video games and waited for his friend's arrival.

Armin was always a book worm and unfortunately, so was Jean. Lately they'd been hanging out and it pissed Eren off. It was like he couldn't be an asshole to Jean in front of Armin because he knew they were friends. He could tell the same went for Jean because every time the three of them hung out there was a sharp tension in the air and one could tell how hard the two were holding back from punching each other in the face.

Sure enough, Armin had returned along with Jean. Eren stuck his tongue out at him when Armin hung up his coat.

"Sorry I was gone so long, I found a really interesting book about neurons in the—"

Eren cut him off with a throaty groan, signaling his friend that he wasn't at all interested.

"Boring," he commented as he faced himself back to the monitor in front of him. He cursed aloud as his car crashed into a ditch on the screen.

"So horse face I went to go find you at practice so I could beat you up but it was canceled." Eren said eyes still on the screen. Jean scoffed and bumped shoulders with him as he sat down next to him watching the screen as well.

"Coach Shadis had surgery on his leg today; next few practices will probably be canceled too. Sorry to make you walk all the way in the cold only to find an empty ice rink, loser," he said rather smugly as if the idea of Eren trotting through the snow only to be by himself set Jean at ease.

Armin took up a spot on the other side of Eren as he watched the screen too, smiling to himself as he listened to the two bicker.

"Jokes on you cause someone was there. And he's a senior," he said proudly. Except why was he proud? It was just Levi. Eren began to bite back at his snarky comment and wished he hadn't said anything in the first place when he saw Jean's face light up with amusement.

"You mean that fruity ice skater? Wow Eren, didn't think you'd cross over to the other side," he cackled. Eren paused his game to grab a pillow and began smacking Jean in the face with it only to have Jean retaliate with a pillow of his own. Armin side as he pushed the two apart and both boys ceased to move their pillows so as not to hit Armin.

Jean made a face at Eren and waved to Armin as he announced and took his leave. Eren dropped his pillow and clicked resume on his game and began playing again, anger still bubbling within him.

"How are you friends with that jack ass?" Eren asked.

"Who's this ice skater you were talking about?"

"Don't try to change the subject," Armin laughed and went to the kitchen to get a drink.

"Yes, Jean's an ass. But this ice skater guy, who is he?" he called from the kitchen. Eren groaned and his whole body turned sharply as he tried to turn his car on the screen, matching the movements.

"Like I said, I was looking for Jean but he wasn't there and instead there was this figure skater who was really good and I ended up watching him practice," He got up himself and strolled into the kitchen to put away his mug and hot chocolate that he took out earlier. As he reached up to place the mug back, Armin pointed at his hand, a small smile gracing his lips.

"What's written on your hand?"

Eren looked to what he was pointing at and tensed up as he saw the number that was scrawled across his palm. He quickly set it down before answering.

"Levi gave it to me—"

"Levi? That's the figure skater's name?" Eren mentally kicked himself before stalking off to his bedroom, Armin's giggles left behind.

He could hear the humming from his xBox cease as Armin turned it off. The silence was now enough for him to sleep and he closed his eye and let his mind drift off to sleep.

\

The next morning he was tired since he couldn't sleep that much. The classes were painfully slow, but the thought of meeting Levi later gave him energy when the afternoon rolled in. His afternoon lecture felt like it was taking days as the time for him to leave got closer.

He might have left twenty minutes earlier instead of fifteen and he might have ran (sprinted) all the way to the ice rink. He only ran that fast because he couldn't stand the cold. At least, that's what he convinced himself.

He was panting by the time he entered the ice skating rink and saw Levi there, packing his things up.

"Hey," he greeted breath still misty because of the cold.

Levi didn't look up once when Eren ran in, his clumsy footsteps probably gave it way. It wasn't until he spoke that Levi finally looked up.

"Jeez, did you run here? You're outta breath," he commented as he pulled his bag onto his shoulder. "I'll be back in a sec, gotta change," he walked toward the locker room and Eren sat down to catch his breath.

By the time Levi had returned, his outfit made Eren look like he had just crawled out of a dumpster. Levi was pressed from head to toe, and honestly he wasn't even that surprised. Levi looked like the type of guy who was notorious for dressing nice on all occasions. He looked like a J. Crew model.

"Do we need to take my car or is it within walking distance?" he asked. It took a second for Eren to realize he was talking to him when he answered.

"We can walk, since you enjoy the cold so much," he commented as they made their way outside. A gust of wind rolled on buy and Eren nearly tensed up and turned his neck roughly in Levi's direction.

Levi had a smug look on his face as they ended up taking his car instead. Eren already knew what he was thinking. _Damn kid can't handle the cold._

What was with his weird obsession of calling him a kid anyway? Was it just some stupid habit he had? Why not opt for bucko or pal? Actually, the more the thought of it the more he couldn't see Levi ever even muttering those words to a human being.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the small coffee shop. It was smacked right in between a bookstore and a school supplies store. There weren't many people in today which was the way he liked it. When Eren got out of the car he ran inside to be welcomed by the pleasant warmth. He almost smiled as he took off his coat and began to feel his fingers tingle.

The café had been at the school for years, he remembered he used to study there as a freshman before he had Armin as his roommate. He was unlucky his freshman year and got roomed with some total douche bag and rarely spent his time in his dorm.

They both ordered their food and sat in a booth. Eren watched as Levi surveyed the place before setting his chin in his palm.

Eren thought this would be a good place to bring Levi because it was never overcrowded and the menus were simple and never changed. He wouldn't place the name introvert over Levi's head, but if he had to guess, he'd say he probably liked to keep to himself for the most part.

Eventually, two chocolate croissants, a plain black coffee and a caramel latte were brought to their table. Eren smiled as he brought the warm drink to his lips and took a sip. He could feel the warmth spread through his body and felt good in this kind of weather.

"So," Levi started as he stirred some sugar and cream into his drink. "Are you actually interested in engineering or was it just the easiest thing to apply for?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm not interested in anything aside from swimming," he admitted as he fiddled with the spoon in his drink. "My dad's a doctor and my mom's an architect, they both wanted me to be one of those. So I picked engineering to piss them off," he snorted a little. He knew it was the most childish thing to do, but he didn't really appreciate the fact that his parents tried to make him choose a path for his life. Of course they're fine with it now, if anything they felt a bit guilty for putting that type of pressure on him.

"But it's not so bad. It's actually kinda cool so I'm not complaining. How about you?"  
Levi chuckled at his explanation. "My parents didn't have a preference. I excelled in the arts since elementary and decided to major in it. Figure skating is just another art form to me and obviously, I excel in that as well."

How eye rolling, Eren thought. It was like he was reading a section of his autobiography.

"What do you swim?" he asked curiously.

"Usually butterfly or freestyle. But I _did _get gold for the 200 meter backstroke last summer," he boasted. Levi chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe in the summer I'll watch your competitions then, too." Eren immediately tensed up. Summer was a while away, that meant that Levi had intended on hanging out with him even in the summer? He had a stupid giddy feeling in his stomach as he thought so and had to force himself to calm down to answer him coolly.

He shrugged as he propped his elbow up on the table. "Yeah if you want, I mean, summer doesn't really sound like your kinda thing, I mean it get's got—sweltering hot and you're so opposite to that—"

"True, maybe I'll just read about it in the school paper—"

"No you should come watch live!" he blurted out. He clasped a hand over his mouth. His plan to play it off cool pretty much backfired right in his face and made him look totally lame. He peeked up to see Levi smirking down at him and Eren couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Was it that obvious that I was trying too hard?" Levi nodded as he found himself laughing too.

"Big time."

Eren was glad there was only one other person in the café because both he and Levi erupted into this sort of laughter that was almost contagious. He could even see the barista's smiling at them.

The next hour or so went on like that until their snacks were gone. They chatted and learned things about each other; Levi taught Eren some proper names of moves for ice skating and Levi being Levi already knew the names of the types of swimming in swim. If anything it was Levi talking and Eren listening to him talk about painting and skating and it was really fascinating to him. He'd never had a friend so invested in the arts and it was nice to hear someone talk about something they were so passionate about.

Levi mentioned a studio where he had all his art pieces because the pictures that he paints are on huge canvases that wouldn't fit in his apartment. Eren piped up something about wanting to visit someday and Levi promised him that he'll bring him.

Eventually, it got dark and Levi dropped him off at his dorm and drove away. Eren had too good of a day to even notice Jean in the living room and he ignored everything he spat at him and it felt nice. He changed into his pajamas and went to sleep happy.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren came to the idea that studying in a library actually helped you study. A discovery made known to Eren that glorious weekend. However, he also noticed that it was tremendously boring and quite possibly the worst thing in the world. Why he even bothered to study, he didn't know; it wasn't like he was even doing terribly bad in any of his classes. What was he even reading anymore? He had just grabbed a bunch of books from the shelf and laid them all across the table, thinking opening all books at the same time would motivate him to read more. Instead, it overwhelmed him and had his eye lids became heavier and heavier by the second. He forced himself to wake as he gave a few light pats on the face and began to resume reading his books.

Eren couldn't help but feel like his subconscious wanted to come to the library because of that chat he had with Levi and how he loved to read all sorts of books. What Eren believed was he was not doing that to impress Levi at all but to actually study. Yes, of course, that's why he was at the library, who would come to a library to impress someone? Surely not Eren Jaeger, Eren Jaeger was there to study.

Only his books were all covered in drool from using each and every one of them as a pillow some time withing the two hour time frame he'd been there. Eren figured he could've watched a movie in that period. A nice not boring non reading movie. Eren began to lower his head onto a book and pretended that he was watching a movie. It wasn't any movies he's ever seen before, in fact he was pretty sure by now he was dreaming.

He was underwater in his movie dream and it felt like summer. He could feel his arms paddle across the water as he swam. It was so nice to be back in the water after all the cold seasons. However, the water began to drop in temperature at an alarming rate and Eren tried to swim to the top. He paddled faster and faster and as soon as he popped his head above the water his whole body came up and before him the water was frozen completely. The ice was terribly cold on his semi naked body but when he looked up there was someone else there.

The stranger was flying toward him, no, _gliding_ on the ice. He was getting closer and closer but he wasn't slowing down. He was skating toward him when he jumped and landed on his leg.

"Ah!" Eren exclaimed as he shot up from the table. He was immediately shushed by other strangers in the library when he crouched back down apologetically. Before he could resume his afternoon nap, he looked forward to see Levi sitting right across from him. Eren froze in shock and embarrassment as he stared at the very person he was trying to impress by reading, but was caught drooling in the textbook.

"Hi," Eren greeted quietly.

"If you're gonna sleep, sleep in your dorm not a public library, brat," Levi smirked as he tapped a pencil on Eren's forehead. He winced in pain as he sat up sharply as he frowned at Levi.

"I think I like 'kid' better than brat," he commented before grabbing the books together in a neat pile.

"I could also say bratty kid," His dry humor always came off a bit drab and rather dull and Eren never understood why he still found them funny. Damn guy thought he was so witty with all his lame comments.

Eren placed the books back on the shelf followed Levi out the door when he invited him to his practice. His inner self began jumping for joy while his cool exterior stretched and yawned as they padded down the stone steps.

It was almost as if Eren was asking for this to happen. Of all days Levi goes to the library, it's the same day that Eren's caught sleeping in fine literature. Then again Eren never went to the library and thus had no prior knowledge of if Levi ever went to the library. Plans backfiring and exploding in Eren's face was just another one of his many talents that was so skilled at.

Levi nudged him when he wasn't talking.

"What were you doing in the library?" he asked rather dryly.

"I always go to the library," Levi scoffed.

"No, _I _always go to the library. I've never seen you there before." Drat. Eren shrugged before trying a cheeky grin at Levi who only rolled his eyes, a smirk dancing on his lips. Levi punched him in the arm and he laughed. Levi had a penchant for punching Eren when he was making a fool of himself and Eren made a fool of himself _a lot_. Also Eren was beginning to think Levi wasn't aware of this true strength because every time he would 'playfully' punch him he would force himself to laugh instead of shriek in pain.

That. Or Eren was too soft.

"How do you get so strong from figure skating anyway," he ended up thinking aloud.

"It requires a lot of muscle in your legs for spins and jumps and for partner routines you need a lot of upper body strength to pick up your partner. It isn't some dainty sport every one thinks it is, you know." Eren put his hands up in defense.

"No I know, I wasn't saying it was. I mean, I really was just wondering. Cause I mean you have really strong muscles," He bit back his tongue. Wow, he really just casually complimented his muscles whilst staring at them through his jacket.

"I knew you stared," Levi jeered as he looked up at Eren who was now in complete embarrassment and trying to find anything to say to deny that very true fact.

"Do not!"

"Mhm," Levi chuckled. Eren groaned as he rubbed his head. If Eren had the strength to punch him back he would. But quite frankly he was not, and he was afraid of the consequences. Before he knew it they were in front of the ice-skating rink.

He took his place up in the bleachers as Levi went to change into his practice uniform. It had become some sort of ritual on his off days to come and watch Levi practice and it became something he looked forward to every time.

Levi came out of the locker room and sat down on the floor near the rink and began to stretch. Eren examined the way his body twisted and reached. The way his veins would show when he reached forward to touch his toes. The flex in his muscle as he turned his body. His eyes and how they would stay closed and completely focused the whole time. It was like watching a canvas being painted.

Eren watched in awe as Levi performed many spins and jumps that it came to the point where there was just a ridiculous amount being done. He let out a laugh before calling out to him.

"Okay, you're _definitely_ just showing off now," he stood up and made his descend down the steps. He was smiling when he walked up to the edge of the ice rink when Levi did yet another jump and shot an icy stare his direction (no pun intended).

"I bet even I could do one of those fancy spins," he grinned as he leaned over the railing. Levi's ears perked up and he skated over to where he was standing, a challenging look plastered to his face.

"You wouldn't last fifteen seconds on the ice," he toyed and Eren only accepted the challenge.

"Get me a pair of skates."

/

So apparently fifteen seconds on the ice was actually not as easy as it looked. Eren didn't even know why he decided to challenge a highly skilled figure skater anyway. It wasn't like Eren even liked the cold. He remembered as a kid whenever it would snow in Japan that Armin and Mikasa would always be outside either sledding or building snow men. It took a lot to convince Mikasa to go outside with out him, but she was eventually persuaded after watching it fall from the sky.

Cold just really wasn't his thing and it was obviously showing in the lack of skating he was showing. He was pretty sure there was an assortment of bruises up and down the sides of his body by now but he refused to let that drag him down. Well, technically he was dragging himself down.

Eren had turned down Levi's many efforts to help him up and show him how to properly skate, but Eren being Eren was stubborn as a mule and wanted to figure it out on his own.

Slowly but surely he began to stand up, leg's shakier than a dog's waggling tail. He was fully standing up and he started to inch forward. Eventually he gained some momentum and was skating forward. Fifteen seconds had passed and he felt confident enough to even try a spin. However the second he was left balancing on one leg he could feel himself tipping back and he shut his eyes and braced for the impact. Except it never came. A pair of arms were looped underneath his armpits and his head was leaning against a torso. He whipped his head up and opened to his eyes only to have a know it all smirk thrown back down at him.

"You're excruciatingly bad at this," was all Levi said before hoisting him back up again. Eren's cheeks were dusted with pink when he turned around to face the sidelines. He decided it'd be safer if he crawled back, but then he also came to the conclusion that Levi would never let him live it down if he did. He shrugged as stomped his way carefully of the ice rink, earning a snigger from Levi who was all the time skating circle around him.

"I think you're just too good at this," he commented finally as he made it back to safety and began tugging the skates off his feet. He made a sound of relief as he wriggled around his toes. Eren concluded that he was a much better spectator than he was a figure skater. He had to hand it Levi, though, because it really was a lot harder than it looked.

It continued that way for a little bit; Levi doing his routine, Eren staying off the ice and examining his brand new collection of bruises, his eyes flitting up every time Levi did a jump. There didn't need to be an vocal exchanges when they were like this. The sound of the ice being scraped smoothly and the occasional mute when Levi jumped and came back down—it was all that needed to be and it just worked between them.

The rather audible grumble that erupted from his stomach threw him a bit off guard as he clenched it as if it would make it any quieter. There was a chuckle from the ice when Levi skidded toward the edge of the rink.

"Falling asleep in a public library and not eating at regular times? You're a mess, kid," Levi commented as he made his way off the ice. "C'mon I'll buy you greasy junk food."

Eren grinned sheepishly as he made his way toward Levi.

"Are you sure greasy food is something you should be eating with a competition coming up so soon?" Eren said in a mimicking tone.

"How about you accept my patronizing you because you're a poor jobless sophomore who survives on noodles as a daily meal?" Eren opened and closed his mouth before he nodded in consonance.

He was tapping his foot on the ground when he waited for Levi to change and come out of the locker room. Eren had just texted Armin that he'd be back a bit late and upon hearing the news Armin was quick to speculate that he was hanging out with Levi, yet again. To which Eren lied poorly and led Armin to send a vast amount of texts per minute asking him about details. He was worse than Sasha and Connie sometimes—

Actually no, those two were pretty bad.

But Armin was good at digging out information as well, especially from Eren. In all honesty, Eren would probably end up talking to him about it anyway. The only people he ever told everything about was to Armin. There were just some things he couldn't talk about with Mikasa that he could with Armin. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of foot steps approaching.

He hopped to his feet with a goofy smile on his face as he walked with Levi to his car.

"I really am spoiling you, you brat," Levi said in a casual tone as he started his car and backed out of the parking lot. Eren chuckled.

"You really are keen to those oh so charming nicknames. Is that how you get all the girls?"

"Yeah, in my spare time I like to stand in courtyards and whisper the words _shitty brats _and have all the girls come swooning." Eren laughed because the way he said things always came across so seriously. He'd never laughed like that around his normal friends. Their type of humor was more slapstick and though he appreciated that and it did often times have his sides splitting, he couldn't help but grow a little attached to Levi's stupid dry humor. Sometimes even if he wasn't being funny he'd laugh; Levi had this habit where he swore a lot more than he should and it only made situations all the more interesting.

"Ow!" Eren exclaimed as he shoved two hot fries into his mouth.

"You eat like a fucking pig I swear if you get any crumbs in my car," Levi warned. Eren rolled his eyes because honestly, that stare didn't even phase him anymore. He set a napkin on his lap nonetheless. The static of the radio and the crinkling of bags were the only sounds made when they sat in the car and ate the fast food. It had been a long time since Eren was able to enjoy someone else's company in comfortable silence like this in a long time. He looked over at Levi who was eating his food neatly and Eren chuckled.

"You're such a clean freak," he teased.

"Excuse me for having good hygiene," he retorted as he took a bit of a french fry. Eren pointed at the fry in his fingers. "You're eating it wrong," he pointed out. Levi lifted a brow in his direction.

"I'm not eating fast food wrong, Eren," Levi shot back, as if he were talking to a five year old. Eren shook his head still, convinced that Levi was in fact eating that french fry wrong.

"You're definitely supposed to eat three at a time," he said a matter of fact.

"Literal five year old," Eren rolled his eyes as he grabbed three fries and held it up in front of Levi, waiting for him to take it out of his hand. It wasn't until Levi stared at his hand that Eren realized what he was doing but it was too late to retract his arm now. He could almost feel himself breaking out in a sweat when Levi wasn't eating the fries. He'd blown it. This was how he'd get rejected. Levi was officially creeped out by some dumb brat.

Only he wasn't because he said, "You didn't wash your hands."

Eren slumped in defeat as he pulled back the food and shoved them into his own mouth. Really, he should have expected that, a person like Levi eating out of an uncleaned hand? Unheard of! Eren decided to try his chances again as he grabbed a napkin and carefully picked up three french fries yet again, this time slowly offering it to Levi instead of shoving it in his face. At first he blinked, probably in shock, but then he bent his head ever so slightly to take the food from his hand.

Eren could feel shivers down his spine when he felt Levi's lip's through the napkin on his hand. His whole world had disappeared for a second and swam down a nonexistent drain. He snapped his attention back to Levi who was now sitting back up. Levi turned to him, eyes staring straight into his emerald ones. His lips parted slowly.

"They taste the fucking same," If this were a cartoon, an anvil would have landed on Eren's head right then and there. This stupid french fry ordeal was probably the most anticlimactic thing that ever did happen to him. Eren could feel himself slink back into the chair after that jaw clenching action he had performed when there was a hand with three french fries placed diligently in front of his face. He looked up only to have Levi looking forward.

"You gave me three earlier," He was glad it was dark because the terrible amount of blood that flowed to his face would have been so painfully obvious in the day time.

He ate the french fries in complete happiness and finished his meal.

"You two shared french fries?" Mikasa asked. She was at his dorm when he got there since Armin couldn't keep his excited mouth shut. Eren sighed from where he was sitting on the couch; he felt like he was talking to his parents about a first date.

"I already told you we each had our own I just showed him how to eat it properly," he shrugged as if it were no big deal. It was always like this between the three of them; every time someone in their little group got a new friend they would hold something like a meeting to evaluate said person. Luckily the rest of the group wasn't there to bombard him ridiculous questions as well. He remember the first time Bertholdt introduced Reiner to everyone. He's the oldest in the group, but if they accepted Levi he'd be the second.

He wasn't sure how everyone would react to Levi, seeing that his humor was rather colorless. There was no way Jean wouldn't bug the crap out of him seeing that he apparently makes fun Levi for being an ice skater. He'd really like to see Levi take him out, just once he'd like someone other than him to slap that douche bag in the face.

The night continued with questions on his looks, attitude, his major, figure skating, and anything else the two could think of to ask. Armin was someone who could take Eren's word. He was fully aware that if he were to meet Levi that he would be slightly intimidated at first (or forever, it varied from person to person), wouldn't get his jokes, and probably freak out a little if he were left alone with him. However, he also was fully aware that he would appreciate his figure skating and his amazing amount of knowledge. Someone Armin could get used to after a few times hanging out.

Mikasa on the other hand was more of a 'I need to meet this person first' kind of girl. And if that didn't say everything, well.

"Mikasa I think we should give this guy a chance, if Eren really likes him that much," Armin offered.

"I'll be willing to meet him, see if he's capable of taking care of Eren."

"I can't believe you guys are saying this when I'm sitting right here. It's not like that! He's just a friend, man you guys think too much," Eren huffed as he stood up to grab a drink from the fridge. He could hear his phone buzz from the couch and almost whipped around to run back for it.

However it was too late when Armin looked down at the screen to see the text and read it aloud.

"From Levi. Sure, I haven't watched a movie in a while. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7," The smile on Armin's face was stupidly wide and Eren grumbled as he grabbed his phone and ran into his room. He could hear the soft laughter of Armin coming from the living room and really, who could stay angry at the laughter of an angel.

Yes, he referred Armin to an angel. Because he practically was one.

Also he couldn't stay mad because Levi had agreed to go to the movies with him and he was so happy and, and.

And he was falling so hard so bad.

"I'm so embarrassing."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I'm taking long to write each chapter; things are pretty hectic around here and it's been so long since I've written a chapter by chapter story. I'm so glad that you're all sticking around to read it still and that you're all putting up with the various grammatical errors. I promise that's not usually how I write, I'm just not good at proofreading nor do I have anyone to do it for me so bare with me.**

**I know it seems like right now it's a bit Jean/Armin since they're hanging out, however, I'm still debating on whether or not I should go through with Jean/Armin, or if I should bring in Marco. Let me know what you guys want in a review down below and I'll try to make something happen! I really want to bring in more characters soon, and you'll see a bit of that in this chapter.**

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**Thanks again everyone for sticking around, please enjoy.**

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Eren was nearly doing cartwheels when he found out the indoor pool had finally been installed. Ever since the windy season in fall to the down right freezing temperature of winter Eren had to put off swimming for a while. He had tried some of his luck during fall but the wind against his wet body was a breeze enough; what more when winter rolled in?

So of course when he was informed about the new pool he woke up too early the next day and nearly biked there; not just because he was thrilled about finally swimming, he was, but the pool wasn't exactly right around the corner for him to walk to.

The smell of chlorine invaded his nostrils as he neared the building and it reminded him of summer. It smelled like long, tiring hours in the pool, tan lines (thank god it was indoors though), and occasionally the very tips of his hair turning a light brown, sometimes even blond.

His leg hair would soon cease to exist and the hair on his head would have that waxy like feeling; no matter how many showers upon showers he would take, his body would still smell like chlorine, and his shoulders would broaden even more and cause shopping to be a bit of a task; all of these things didn't exactly sound so pleasant to the next guy, but to Eren it was golden.

The chains for his bike were cold to the touch when Eren pulled it out of his bag and locked it up next to a post. He made his way inside and sure enough, he was the only one there. He was the only one there because it was five in the morning and not too many people even knew there was an indoor pool yet because his friends worked with the student board and had informed him ahead of time. He only hoped it would stay like this for a while.

It annoyed the living daylights out of him when families came and brought their kids to splash and goof around in the pool when others were trying to actually train. He was fine when they were on the other side where there were no lanes for swimmers, but when the kids decided to just hop on over that's where Eren got a little salty.

This time, however, there were no hyper little kids bouncing off the walls and into the pool and so Eren rejoiced internally and began shedding his clothes to reveal a pair of plain black jammers with a green stripe down each side.

He started off with some simple stretches before he put his goggles on and dived into the pool and swam forward. The first ten or so minutes were simple warm up techniques before he started going into more complicated swims.

It'd been a while since he'd practiced and he could tell he wasn't as good as he could have been, however, Eren Jaeger being Eren Jaeger knew that with hard work and discipline, he'd be just where he was in no time. That was the one quality that everyone noticed in him; he was very dedicated and determined, not matter what the task was. And it wasn't like he was _good_ at everything he tried, no, he just tried to the best of his ability and sometimes he did fail.

Another quality of his, unfortunately, was sometimes he could be a tiny bit arrogant. Such arrogance and determination were tested together when Eren had told Levi he could ice skate. A perfect example of good determination and arrogance only to lead him to failure. He would succeed another day, that's what he told himself. It's not like it was anything to be proven to or to be proven to anyone. Well, except Levi. He wanted to get at least one good spin in there just to show Levi that he could spin no matter how third-rate he knew it would already be.

His two hour practice had flown right out the window when he got out of the pool and ended his rocky start to his personal best, but it was something he knew he wouldn't stay bothered about for long seeing that he'd be practicing more and more until he bettered himself to the best that he could.

_Gurrrrrgle!_

He rubbed his hungry stomach and made his way to the locker room to rinse off quickly. If Eren was anything, it was hungry all the time. It was even worse during his on seasons when he was swimming everyday, he literally felt like his schedule was eat, swim, eat some more, sleep.

The cold hadn't been so much of a problem seeing that he came prepared this time; he was wearing thick sweat pants, his school sweater and on top of that had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Sure he looked like a lost homeless man but boy was he warm.

It was still early when he went to look for a place to eat. The cafeteria was all the way on the other side of campus and quite frankly Eren wanted food pronto. He settled for a sandwich shop that was around the corner and bought his food, not even bothering to lock his bike outside. Eren's eyes were fighting to stay open when he brought the sandwich to his mouth but they had shut completely and he ended up eating it with his head leaning against the window. He was at the point where he didn't care if anyone saw him in that state; he was a college student for crying out loud half of them looked like how he was right now. A zombie.

Either Eren was really hungry and his sandwich disappeared or someone had snatched it out of his tired hands. He was forced to stir himself awake only to be met with a pair of steel colored eyes.

"I thought you were dead so I took your sandwich," Levi said as he placed it back down onto his paper. Eren snorted as he took up a seat in front of him. Even in the ungodly hour of the day, Levi still looked pressed from head to toe. The question popped in Eren's head of if Levi even ever had "lazy days".

"Why are you up so early?" Eren asked in a groggy voice, still feeling like he'd just woken up. Levi arched an eyebrow.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing until I smelled the stench of chlorine radiating off your body," he answered. "And I have a morning class soon, it's right around the corner from here when I saw you sleeping in a public place again," he chuckled as Eren's cheeks started to burn a bit. He had completely forgotten about the library incident and really didn't need any remembrance. Eren only rolled his eyes when he brought himself upright to answer.

"I wouldn't call it a 'stench radiating off my body'. Besides, I showered."

"Showered or rinsed off? Kids these days are starting to get the two mixed up," Eren sighed because he was he kidding? Now he'd really like to see Levi's apartment to see if he'd find at least one spec of dust in that damn place. He put his hands up in defeat nonetheless.

"Okay fine I _rinsed off_. I didn't have time to take a full shower because I was hungry."

"Ah, that's a good excuse," Levi said as he rested his chin in his hand. "By the way, I figured it'd be cheaper to just rent a movie and we could watch it at my place. A couple of my friends wanted to watch too." Eren immediately felt himself get a little excited by the offer to go to his apartment and meet his friend. Right now he wasn't sure what Levi was to him, but he was well aware that the man was in fact attractive. That didn't necessarily mean he liked him, though, at least he wasn't sure at the moment. He definitely thought Levi was a cool, interesting person that he would want to be his friend and he was happy to meet any and all of his friends as well. It then dawned on him that he'd be hanging out with more fourth years, possibly even fifth years depending on their major. He realized by now that he was smiling and it must have been obvious what his answer would be but he decided to say it out loud anyway.

"Sure, sounds fun. I wanted to watch that one action movie that everyone's been talking about. I heard it was really good and there were a lot of explosions," Eren remarked. Levi chuckled as he stood.

"Alright, we can pick it up after practice. I'll text you when my morning class is over," he waved his goodbye and left, leaving Eren alone to finish his sandwich. The giddy feeling wouldn't go away in that next hour or so as he waited for Levi's class to finish. He ended up dropping his bike off at the dorm and waited at the ice rink in the last fifteen or twenty minutes to watch the hockey players wrap up.

Jean was undoubtedly good at his sport, but he was just such a jock about it that no one ever bothered to compliment him. He was also smart but believed that he was better than everyone else. Truthfully, the two rarely got into fist fights, most fights between them were just heated arguments going back and forth and Mikasa or Armin stepping in to stop them. Had not Jean been the biggest asshole in his life time, they'd probably be better friends.

And it wasn't like he was an asshole all the time because he's seen how he treats Armin; it's so much more delicate than when he talks with him. It's loud, arms are flailing, faces flushed with anger, it was like he was a completely different person. At least Eren was always stubborn with whoever he was talking to, Jean just changed entirely when it was just them talking. Perhaps it was because Jean already had a bit of a stubbornness to him already that the two just collided when coming face to face.

Jean had finally made his way off the ice when Eren made his way down the steps and stood in front of him.

"Nice fall you did earlier," he complimented sarcastically. Jean sat on the benches and began to take off his helmet and paddings.

"I'd like to see you try your feet at the ice, Jaeger," he bit back.

"Yeah, I'd rather not try that again," he sat down as he remembered all the falls he took when he challenged Levi. He still had the bruises along his sides.

Before Jean could make fun, there came wolf whistling from all the hockey players and both boys whipped their heads up to see who it was veered at.

Levi was walking their direction with his bag slung over his shoulder, stare icy cold. He figured either he was used to it or he just didn't care because he made his way over and sat on the other side of Eren.

"Hey princess, here to jump and prance?" Jean jeered as some of his team mates laughed. Levi only ignored it as he began to take out skates of his own. Some of the hockey players drew closer as Jean stood up and picked up Levi's skates and set them down away from him, calls coming from his hockey friends to do more. Eren could feel his anger boil inside of him and stood up, hands balled into fists ready to punch Jean square in the face.

"Shut the fuck up already horse shit, how are you so obnoxious?" Eren spat. Jean stalked closer to Eren arms extended as he shoved him back, earning approving hollering from his friends. This time Levi did not ignore the situation and stood up in between Jean and Eren.

"Oh, sorry princess, did I upset you and your boyfriend—" Jean was down on his knees as Levi did a spin into his stomach. The move was identical to the one he'd done on ice except this one was _so _much better. Most of the team had backed up already after seeing the damage that he could pull, knowing that he was already holding back. It was silent for a second, no one wanting to move in fear that Levi would give them a trip to the hospital. Eren's mouth was left hanging when Levi bent down and lifted Jean's head by his hair.

"Leave."

Levi grabbed his skates and put them on as Jean's hockey friends helped him to his feet and retreated to the locker room. Eren wasn't sure whether or not he should even ask him about the situation he had just witnessed or if he should just leave it alone. He decided he would confront him about it later and let the man do his routine as usual. Eren took his regular spot on the bleachers and watched Levi practice his flawless routine. His triple axle triple toe was damn near perfect every time he watched it. He hadn't seen him slip up once in the times that he would sit in and watch him practice.

Practice had ended quickly and Eren was already down at the ice rink waiting for Levi, a smile sprawled across his face.

Levi returned the look with furrowed brows and a half smirk of his own.

"What's with that look?" he asked as he sat down and chugged his water, toweling away at his forehead.

"I'm just so happy someone finally gave Jean the kick he deserves," he laughed before his expression changed softly and a bit apologetic. "Also I'm sorry they were all rude to you, Jean especially. He's normally not that big of an asshole—not that I'm defending him because he is an asshole. Like all the time. But today he was even more of one so I'm just sorry he made fun of you and you got angry at him, but I mean you had every right to—"

"I didn't injure him for my sake," he interrupted calmly as he finally wriggled off the other boot. This left Eren's mind a bit boggled; if he wasn't so bothered by it then why would he hurt him at all? Levi didn't say a word when he made his way to the locker room to change, leaving Eren to figure out what he had meant when he said he didn't do it for his sake.

Perhaps he just did it to teach him a lesson? It was pretty apparent that he deserved a good kick in the gut and Eren was sure anyone could see that blatant fact. Levi had returned, car keys dangling around his finger.

"Let's get the movie quickly so we don't have to stay up too late," Levi said as he made his way to the exit, Eren following close behind.

"Don't worry, I know _exactly _which one to get."

/

"Crap which one did I want to get?" Eren said aloud as he walked up and down the aisle of the movie store for the third time. Levi stood impatiently at the end of the aisle, waiting for Eren to pick his movie.

"I thought you already knew." he declared more than asked.

"I don't think it's even here!" Eren grimaced as he stood up straight. He scanned his finger along the movies again when he found something that caught his eye. He held up the film in Levi's direction who in return met him with an arched eyebrow.

"Horror?"

"I heard it was really good," Levi shrugged not particularly for or against it, probably just wanted to get back to the apartment before it got too late. He grabbed the DVD from Eren's hand and checked it out in the front. When they made it inside the car and started driving back to the apartment, Levi sniffed the air, almost in disgust.

"Okay, before the movie is even put into the DVD player, you are going to take a shower," He said in all seriousness. Eren looked to him as if this was one of his stupid dry humored jokes.

"Funny."

"Not trying to be. I'm not going to have my apartment smelling like chlorine."

"But then it'll smell like me and you won't miss me as much," Eren joked as Levi punched him in the arm, chuckling softly.

"You're so embarrassing," he scoffed as they made their way back to the apartment in comfortable silence.

It was seven when they arrived and got out of the car. The apartment complex was nice and neat and it was where most of the upper class men lived when they were off campus. They had made their way up the steps to Levi's apartment when Levi pulled his keys out of his pocket. He unlocked the door and let Eren in before closing it behind them.

Two people from the couch greeted Levi and stood up to meet Eren. One of them was a girl with long brown hair tied into a high pony tail and glasses and the other was a tall, stocky blond. He looked a lot older than he probably was. He shook his hand firmly before introducing himself as Erwin and the other as Hanji.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Levi's told us so much about you." Eren bit back the huge smile he wanted to so badly let show because Levi talked about him to his friends. He couldn't help but feel flattered that such a cool guy like Levi actually enjoyed his company and bothered to tell his friends about it.

"You're _all _he ever talks about! Eren this, Eren that, blah blah blah. Now I can see for myself what all the hubbub was about, you're such a cutie! Levi, you never told us the kid was such a cutie," Hanji jabbed at Levi and wow. He'd never seen someone talk so casually and almost teasingly at Levi like that without him retaliating. They all must have been good friends.

Levi rolled his eyes as he disappeared into what Eren thought to be his room, only to return with some clothes and a towel.

"Here, use Hanji's shower, don't use up all the hot water." Wow. He was serious about the shower. Hanji hooked arms with Eren and lead him to her bathroom. It was neat, probably from Levi pestering her to clean it all the time. He wondered how she was able to put up with him all the time seeing that she lived here too. Levi's bathroom was probably spotless; he imagined that the glass was still sparkling clean.

"Sorry about all this," she motioned at the clothes and towel in Eren's arms. "He's a bit of a neat freak," he laughed. Eren smiled back.

"Trust me, I know," she gave him a rough pat on the back before closing the door behind her, leaving Eren alone. He set the towel and clothes down on the sink when an article of clothing fell to the ground. He pick it up to reveal a pair of black boxer briefs. _These are Levi's boxer briefs,_Eren thought. His face began to feel hot as he dropped it back on the sink. Levi had given him a pair of his own _underwear._ Surely it had to be a new pair, Levi would be the last person to lend used underwear.

Even if that was the case, this was from a new pack of underwear that he had intended on using sometime in the near future but had ended up giving it to Eren.

By now Eren was refusing to admit his small crush on Levi, but his embarrassingly red face seemed to say otherwise. He quickly jumped in the shower and refused to think of anything else but the movie they were going to watch.

Even if Eren did admit that he liked him it would only be one-sided. He'd rather stay as his friend than screw anything up by confessing. It wasn't like there was anything to confess anyway, it was just a small crush. Not even. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

He managed to shower quickly and in turn ended up smelling like strawberry kiwi. Hanji's choice in shampoo and conditioner wasn't exactly the same he would have picked out, but at least he smelled nice.

Now came the hard part; after he toweled off he put on the shirt (which by the way only barely fit him due to his broad shoulders and Levi's small build.) it was then that he stared at the underwear sitting on the counter. It's not like he could just leave it there because then Levi would know he was totally commando in his own clothes and he'd probably flip if he did that. He sighed as he grabbed the undergarment and slipped it on, only to slip on the sweat pants quickly after. He opened the door and toweled off his damp hair as he made his way into the living room, Levi not in sight.

"He takes a while in the shower, he's gotta be squeaky clean before doing anything else," Erwin said from the kitchen.

"Makes sense," he chuckled as he sat down on one of the couches. Hanji kept eying him from her side of the couch as if he were some sort of exhibit in a museum. He prayed that she would just start talking so the awkward staring would be broken but as soon as she did, he regretted it.

"What's your major? How old are you? Do you skate? _Can _you skate? How did you meet Levi anyway, I've never seen him this friendly to a stranger, much less someone younger than him—"

"Hanji, c'mon quit scaring the kid," Erwin clasped a tight hand on his shoulder as he sat down. Eren couldn't help but sigh as that name came up again.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's with the three of you and calling people 'kid' all the time." Erwin and Hanji looked at each other before erupting into a small laughing fit. That of which Eren wasn't sure if he should take part in so he only gave a very confused smile. Erwin sat across from him when he explained.

"We actually don't really call anyone that and neither does Levi. One day when I came over to hang out with Hanji, Levi came back and told us about some kid he'd met at the ice skating rink that day. He was glued to his phone the whole time we were hanging out. It's probably just a nickname," Erwin smiled fondly.

"You should be grateful, the only other names he calls people is brat or shitty brat," Hanji piped up.

"I believe I've gotten one of those alterations at least once," the three ended up laughing on the couch and Eren was glad they were so easy to talk to. It made him wonder how two personalities like this ended up befriending that of Levi's; he was almost the complete opposite. As if on cue, the door to the bathroom swung open, letting out a bunch of steam. Feeling confident after his little chat with Levi's friends he decided to poke fun at Levi himself.

"Jeez and you told _me _not to use up all the hot water—" the sight before him was something that could never be unseen ever again because the only thing covering Levi's _privates_ was a towel that was carelessly draped around his hips, showing the "V" of his waist. His abs were so much more prominent than in that tight uniform he used to practice in and wow. Eren literally could not pull his eyes away until Levi finally walked closer, poking a finger at his forehead.

"Had something to say? Or are you busy staring?" Eren could feel the blood rush to his cheeks and he snapped his head the other direction and picked up the movie.

"Can we just start the movie already? You're the one who said you didn't want it to go too late into the night," he said quickly. Erwin and Hanji's laughter rang in his ears and even though he knew it was all good fun he couldn't help but feel so excruciatingly embarrassed. Erwin (thank god for him) stuck up for Eren this time, however, as he turned to Levi.

"Alright, alright, put some clothes on and let's start the movie," Eren could hear the puff of amused air that escaped Levi's nose as he walked away and he knew he was smirking. What a pompous ass.

"Don't worry, he always walks around with just a towel even if there are guests. Trust me, you'll get used to it if you come over enough," Erwin laughed as he gave a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

"Or you could just take a picture, I mean they do last longer," Hanji said through stifled giggles, still laughing at Eren's reaction to a shirtless Levi.

"Can we please just watch the movie?" He said almost dreadfully with his head in his hands. He felt the couch suddenly dip and he whipped his head up to see Levi sitting right next to him; a lot closer than Erwin and Hanji.

"Quit whining already kid, someone put in the movie before he throws a fit."

"Again with the name calling," Eren said earning a glare from Levi. He put his hands up in defense and turned his attention to the television screen. Hanji had gotten up and turned off the lights and everyone got comfy on the couch. He was sitting so close to Levi, he could feel the the warmth from his hot shower radiating off his arm; if only they were touching.

Eren's choice in the movie probably wasn't the best one seeing that it was horrifyingly terrifying. Usually Eren could handle horror movies with real plots that made you think; this one had an absolute garbage plot but tons of suspense and pop ups that had even Erwin jump a bit. Hanji kept her eyes mostly covered, but seemed to be enjoying it nonetheless; chuckling a bit every time she or someone around her got jumpy. Levi was a whole different story. He wasn't phased at all, if anything he looked bored, but it was probably just his face and how he looked during every movie. Another pop up and ear splitting scream jumped at the screen causing Eren to jump a bit in his seat and ended up pressed against Levi who in turn let out a very small chuckle, one that he was pretty sure only he had heard.

Through out the course of the movie Eren found himself leaning more and more into Levi, who had his arms extending out on the back of couch already. He began to ignore the movie and looked elsewhere so he wouldn't jump and accidentally punch Levi in the face. He stared at the coffee table and paid attention to the rise and fall of Levi's chest. Had not Levi dropped his head onto Eren's, he would have guessed he was already asleep. The closeness between them made had Eren's pulse beating, but he calmed himself down to just let it happen. He tried closing his eyes and leaned a bit more into his side before drifting off completely.

Eren had never had a more comfier sleep in his entire nights of sleeping. He wondered if Armin had left for class already and seeing that it was his off day he decided to sleep in a little bit more. He'd get to practice later and after watch Levi practice.

The movie last night was a blur. All he remembered was he finally got to meet some of Levi's nice friends who were polar opposites of him and that Levi was not joking about taking a shower to get rid of his chlorine smell.

And speaking of smells, he could smell burnt waffles coming from the kitchen and he wondered if Armin actually did stay in instead; but Armin was always a good cook and never burnt waffles, actually he never made waffles which then lead him to believe that actually never made it home last night and that only meant—

"Fuck!" Hanji's voice came from the kitchen as he heard the sound of the waffles being thrown away and another batch sizzling on the stove top.

He began to take a deep breath, no someone _under _him started taking a deep breath as if they were finally stirring awake. Eren sat up to see who was under him only to have been met with a pair of steel gray eyes staring back.

"Morning," Levi said casually as he scooted his way back to sit up properly. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms before leaning back on the arms of the couch. Eren still stared at him a bit in awe because how could someone be so casual about something like this? He knew his face was burning and he didn't care because Levi had seen it all too many times.

"Don't blush like that or else I'll feel like you've fallen for me."

"What?" that broke his frozen stance as he sat back. Levi only chuckled as he nudged him with his foot.

"It's a joke, also don't worry about your roommate, Hanji answered your phone last night when you fell asleep," Levi got up and cracked his back before making his way to the bathroom.

The whole situation to him was just. He didn't know what to think of it; he was giddy but at the same time he wasn't sure what Levi's intentions were. Everything about him was so casual and he wasn't sure what he was intending. He sighed as he sat at the small kitchen table, wondering what to do. His small sigh interrupted Hanji's little cussing fit of burnt waffles as she turned around and pursed her lips.

"Why the long face, Eren?" he could tell she was actually concerned since it was the firs time anyone in the apartment had called him by his name. She sat across from him with a smile that almost seemed motherly. She set down her spatula and crossed her arms on the table. She knew.

"That bad, huh?" Eren only nodded.

"Has he ever been with anyone before?" his voice was low just in case Levi had sharp hearing, which he didn't doubt he did. Hanji only shook her head apologetically. Eren didn't even think he was gay until now. At least he wasn't admitting it until today. He's had his fair share of crushes on women before, hell he even had a few girlfriends in high school. But never in his life has he ever felt something like this toward a man before. He wasn't even sure if Levi was gay, probably had women climbing all over him all the time. He sighed again as he scratched his head in frustration, earning a chuckle from Hanji. She reached over and placed a hand on his.

"I'll let you know this. I've never seen him treat anyone like this before. Ever. The only reason he puts up with Erwin and I is because we've all been friends since middle school. But you, he's already nicer to you than any of his friends that he's known all his life. So, if you want something to think about, there's that." Eren could feel a lump in his throat as Hanji told him so. She was nice enough to give him her number if he ever needed to talk and he thanked her.

Levi made his way out of the bathroom eventually as he wiped his mouth clean after just brushing it. He spotted Eren at the table and smelled the burnt waffles and made a face of disgust as he stalked back into his room. He came out fully changed and grabbed his coat off the coat rack at the front door, keys already in his pocket.

"C'mon Eren, I'm bringing you back to your place to change so we can get some real breakfast none of this horrible shit. When I come back I swear to god this kitchen better be spotless, Hanji," he threatened only to have Hanji wave he spatula around at him. Eren got up to follow him out the door and into the car when a buzz went off on his phone and he opened the message from Hanji. What he read made him want to yell and hug Hanji at the same time and he decided he'd figure out what to do later.

_I only burned the waffles to get you two out alone. Enjoy your breakfast date with your breakfast babe!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Newer chapters, newer characters. Not gonna lie, it was all thrown together pretty sloppily. I feel like this chapter was a bit rushed and could have been split into two or it could have been a bit longer. Oh well. **

**Also I decided to have some actual questioning of sexuality in this chapter because almost every fic I read, no one questions it and they just assume that they'll like them back. You have to establish things! You can't just assume some people are gay just like you can't assume that some people are straight.**

**So enjoy a sexually confused Eren and keep sticking around. **

**/**

"I can't believe I came with you," Eren grumbled as he walked up and down the exhibits of the massive museum with Armin. The two had realized what with all the new friends they were making they barely had enough time to each other, and they were roommates! Eren promised him that he could pick the next place to go and Eren would take him there. Leave it to Armin to pick the most boring place in the planet; a modern museum on books. Literally the two most uninteresting thing combined into one boring place. Eren didn't hate museums or reading, he liked comic books, or fantasy books; none of those books about history or modern science that Armin was into. He's also been to one of those cool space museums that had lot's of interesting exhibits and some were even interactive.

However this, this was just painful. There was nothing to do but look at books in glass cases and Eren wanted to claw his eyes out so badly.

"Eren, it's history, it's _interesting,_" he gleamed as they came across Eren didn't know what, another book he didn't care about.

"Yeah, if you're going to be a history teacher. There was a reason I barely passed that class in high school, it was boring," Armin laughed as he turned to him this time.

"No, that's because you slept everyday and the only reason you barely passed was because you copied my homework. Now if you stop complaining for the next thirty minutes I promise we can go somewhere _interesting_," Armin exaggerated his air quotes with his fingers when he said interesting. Eren sighed as he pretended to zip his lips and let Armin drool over every book he came into contact with.

He was glad he talked Armin out of inviting Jean with them because he didn't think he could see that face without punching it after his last encounter with him. Eren explained prior to coming to the museum about how big of an ass Jean was being at the ice-skating rink and how Levi pretty much drop kicked him in the gut. He still couldn't figure out what he had meant when he said he didn't do it for "his sake". What other reason was there to beat up a pompous asshole?

Some people had better control over their anger and Eren was not one of those people. If anything he came off a bit hot tempered at times, but he was nowhere near as bad as Jean. Sure he could get arrogant and cocky at times but it wasn't like he was a braggart about it; it was usually all in good fun. Jean on the other hand bragged about things just so he could hear the sound of his own voice.

He had no idea how Armin was able to put up with it; then again Jean was a whole different person around him.

He remembered the first time Armin had told him about his first encounter with Jean. Armin always had a bit of a problem with bullies and unfortunately that problem followed him to his first year of college. Eren wasn't around when Armin was encountered by a bunch of goons with too much time on their hands when Jean stepped into the picture and got Armin out of there safely. It was a bit ironic since Jean himself was a bit of a bully too, however, seeing someone so defenseless as Armin, he figured he probably felt bad seeing him in that situation. Eren still hated his guts nonetheless and he barely even called him a friend.

After a while the two freed themselves of the museum and Eren yawned as they walked down the steps of the museum.

"Oh it wasn't that boring, Eren," Armin chuckled.

"It was, but I'm just tired in general. I've been swimming for the past week and a half and I feel awesome and exhausted at the same time."

It was true that he'd been training for swim season but on top of that, he would watch Levi's practices as well. He'd been hanging out with him a lot over the time being and sometimes Levi came to watch him swim as well. Hanji and Erwin had been at the apartment the last few times he visited and he would always secretly text Hanji for advice.

His breakfast a few days ago with Levi hadn't gone completely amiss. Sure he had gotten jam on the corners of his mouth with out realizing it only to have Levi wipe it off and call him a messy kid, but that was something he didn't mind so much. It was when the waiter mistook them for a couple and Eren only denied it, wondering if that was such a good idea on his part. He was one of those people who laughed and talked too much in awkward situations and had explained how he and Levi were only friends, just friends to the waiter.

Looking back on that he probably shouldn't have said anything in the first place, Levi would've have corrected him eventually anyway so what was the point in Eren talking?

He grumbled as he walked with Armin, mentally kicking himself over nothing. Armin gave him a concerned smile as he chuckled softly.

"What's beating you up?" he asked.

He sighed as they came to a bench and sat down.

"It's nothing, I just. I can't stop thinking about Levi and his stupid jumps and his stupid face and his stupid apartment and god, I hate him."

"You love him," Eren shot him a glare.

"I _don't_ love him. I just like him sort of, like a little bit or a lot who knows, who cares? What about you and Jean anyway huh? You two have been spending a lot of time together too. And isn't he gay? I swear, he's just being a douche bag to hide it from all his hockey friends," Armin put his hands up in defense.

"Trust me, I'm not his type nor is he mine. And no, there's a difference between Jean and I studying at the library like normal friends where as you and Levi hang out every day, every where, any time—not to mention you've slept with him last week already."

"I slept on his couch, not with him! And it's not like I intended on spending the night, I just fell asleep," Armin gave him a wry smile before shaking his head. Eren was too stubborn for his life to admit anything especially when it came to something like love. In the first grade, Eren denied his crush on a girl in his class so hard that he convinced her that he hated her and he never got to talk to her after that. That's not what he wanted to do with Levi, he really did want to get closer, he just didn't know how. Armin had his serious friend advice face on when he turned to him.

"Look, I know you've never been with another man before so all these emotions are so new and so strange to you. But I can tell you right now that it's painfully obvious how much you like this guy, and that time you told me beat up Jean? You do know he did that for you right?" Eren whipped his head up, blood rushing to his cheeks.

"What?"

"That was for you," he smiled reassuringly. "It only makes sense, you said it yourself and Jean said it too. All the times they made fun of him he ignored it, but the _one _time Jean laid a finger on you and Levi lost his cool?" he shrugged.

"Just makes sense that he only did that to defend you," Eren's jaw was left hanging as he came to the sudden realization that Armin might have been right. Course he was, when was he ever wrong? Armin gave him a pat on the back when their bus arrived. It took Eren a second to compose himself before he got onto the bus only to sit down and think for the trip back home.

/

Eren gasped as he came up from the water and took off his goggles to gape up at Levi who was holding a stopwatch in his hand.

"A minute four seconds," he said plainly. Eren splashed the water in frustration causing Levi to inch back even further away from the pool. For the last few early morning practices, Levi had accompanied Eren to time him for his 200-meter fly that he'd been working on.

"Don't be a brat and splash that dirty public water around," he grimaced from where he sat. Eren leaned against the edge of the pool, head resting on his crossed arms.

"I can't beat my old time," he said in a worried tone. Levi rolled his eyes before scooting forward to poke a finger at his forehead; a smirk dancing across his lips.

"You're such a kid," Eren swatted his hand away in frustration and Levi leaned down to lean on his elbows, a bit too close for comfort on Eren's part but he didn't move.

"Eren, you're just getting back into swimming after a couple months off. Of course you won't be as fast as you were when you were used to swimming every single day—though I don't know how you put up with the smell—"

"Not helping," Eren interjected.

"What I'm saying is, you're one hell of a swimmer from what I've seen already, which means you'll only get better. So calm down a bit and be patient, not a stubborn brat." Eren chuckled as the nicknames came rolling in. This was probably the earliest in the day that he'd kick in with the name calling, a personal best for Levi.

Eren sighed, feeling a bit stupid for overreacting and hoisted himself up and out of the water only to have a towel thrown directly at his head. He turned around to yell something stupid when Levi's phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hey Erwin," he answered. Naturally, Eren couldn't help but feel a bit curious and had no scruples for eavesdropping. He scooted a little closer to see if he could hear anything at the other end of the line, but unfortunately he couldn't hear a thing. Erwin was a nice guy every time Eren went over to his Levi's house, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was to Levi. Hanji kept deeming him gay since he'd shown little to no interest in women whatsoever however it seemed like he showed little to no interest in people in general. The only people he kept up with was Erwin, Hanji, and as of recently, Eren.

He didn't have the nerve to ask Hanji any questions about Erwin and he didn't want to press much on the issue anyway.

As helpful as Hanji was with advice, she was also crazy about making up scenarios to get the two together. One time Eren tried to reason that what he felt for Levi was completely platonic which then lead her to snap some pictures of him changing and eventually sending them to Eren.

Suddenly the word "platonic" had flown right out the window and Eren had _accidentally_ saved the photos. Hanji was a mad genius, she was, but he would never admit it to her or else the pictures wouldn't stop coming. Not that that was particularly a bad thing, but sooner or later she would be found out and that would be more humiliating than Eren confessing to Levi's face.

Levi's phone call had ended long ago when he was nudging Eren on the ground with his foot.

"That floor you're lying on is disgusting and crawling with germs," Eren tightened his mouth and waved a hand of dismissal at him, grunting as he got up. Immediately, Levi pointed to the showers and Eren rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I know. You don't have to keep reminding me after _every _practice," Levi scoffed as he sat down on one of the chairs, putting his arms behind his head as he reclined back.

"Don't forget to scrub behind the ears," he called after. Eren chuckled softly as he made his way to the showers.

/

Eren's morning lecture was nothing more than uneventful, however, it did let out earlier than expected and so he figured he had enough time to catch Levi's practice ending. He packed up his things and made his way out the lecture hall when someone bumped into him. He looked up to apologized only to end up grimacing in distaste as he locked eyes with Jean.

"Shit head."

"Horse face," he spat back. Eren didn't so much as look back as he stalked off, only to be followed by him in the process. He grumbled as he turned his direction.

"What do you want?" he asked as he picked up the pace; Jean following close behind. He heard a snicker escape his mouth and it only pissed him off.

"What's got you walking so fast, Jaeger? Off to see your boyfriend?" he laughed.

"If I remember correctly, said _boyfriend _kicked your butt last time and you had to have your team mates help you up," It took a paragon of kindness not to viciously punch Jean in the face and Eren could feel himself holding back. Just a few more minutes and he'd be at the ice rink. Jean was still following him when Eren piped up again.

"You didn't answer my last question," Jean scoffed as he was now walking side by side with Eren, a smug look slathered all over his face.

"Last time I was wearing all my padding which was holding me back, now I'm good and ready to beat his pansy ass." that actually made Eren laugh because was he serious? That was Levi _holding back_, did Jean want a broken arm? And nose? And mouth and leg and rib and skull—did he want to die? Eren thought it best to not stop him and have him learn his lesson the hard way; it would be entertaining to watch anyway.

They both reached the ice skating rink when Jean stomped on ahead of him looking for Levi on the ice when he stopped dead in his tracks. Eren furrowed his brows, wondering why he didn't call him out; Eren was looking forward to the beating when he saw someone else on the ice with Levi. Now it was Eren's turn to stare.

It was another guy, probably the same year as both Jean and he; he had short black hair and Eren could spot the freckles scattered around his face. It looked like Levi was giving him instructions as he made spinning motions with his hands. Levi then took to the ice and did a spin in the air as he drew back closer to the boy motioning for him to try it himself. He nodded nervously as he began to skate off and gained some speed, jumping eventually and spinning in the air. The landing was nowhere near as graceful as Levi's but it was a landing nonetheless. A look of achievement set on his face, and Levi pointed to his skates, probably saying something about how to fix the landing. The boy nodded and made his way off the ice, Levi following right behind. He acknowledged Eren as he approached the two and scowled at Jean.

"Hey," Eren greeted and then pointed to the stranger. "And this is?"

"Marco," he chirped cheerfully. Eren shook his hand and smiled back. "Eren, this Jean but no one cares about him." Jean punched him in the arm as Marco let out a laugh and reached his hand out to shake Jean's.

"Nice to meet you Jean that no one cares about," he chuckled. Jean let out a smile of his own. "I'm learning from Levi, usually I practice later in the day after everyone's gone, but I came in early so he could help me with a spin. Do you guys usually come to watch him?" Levi was already taking off his skates at the bench when Eren nodded.

"Well you're learning from the best. I come as often as I can but Jean hates—"

"Missing out on practices! Yeah I'm just so busy with school and stuff that I can't always make it to watch him practice, right Eren?" He nudged him with his arm, almost a pleading look in his eye. Eren wanted to die with happiness because holy shit Jean was asking for a favor from him and of course he was going to do it for him, but not without making him suffer. Eren turned back to Marco, Jean's eyes following him closely.

"Yeah, Jean usually can't make it when he's doing my laundry. He loves helping out so often times he comes over and does my laundry and folds everything neatly that it just takes a lot of his time and he misses out on coming with me to practice. Actually, I have a load that needs to be done right now, glad you're coming over to do it," he threw a cheeky smile at Jean who in returned had a look in his eyes that said, "you're a piece of shit Jaeger if this cutie on duty weren't in front of me I'd ring your neck." Eren smiled smugly as he made his way over to sit next to Levi who was out of ear range from the other two.

Levi nodded his head in their direction a bit confused. "Pony boy over there plays for the other team?" Eren suppressed a laugh before answering.

"Yeah, our group of friends know, but none of his teammates do. Always thought he had a thing for my roommate, to tell you the truth," Levi nodded before taking off his other skate. The whole gay topic was lingering in the air when he opened his mouth to say something.

"How about Marco? Is he in or out of the closet?" Levi shrugged, not really caring.

"Never asked him, don't need to know, but," he looked in the direction of Jean and Marco and he could already tell just by the body language that Marco was definitely interested. "I'm just gonna take a big guess here and say yes," Eren laughed and wondered if he should keep pressing on the topic. It was a stretch, but it was also a fuck it situation and thought he'd never get a chance to ask any questions like this ever again.

"Do you have any gay friends?" he asked plain and simple. He decided not to include any details or else it would be too obvious; just genuine curiosity. Levi was giving him a weird look and Eren could feel beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck but Levi answered anyway.

"Erwin."

"Erwin's gay? He could get any girl he wanted though!" Levi couldn't help but give a small chuckled and Eren was so glad he wasn't too weirded out with their conversation. Though nothing prepared his pulse for what he said next.

"He's my—" he was cut off from his phone ringing and he picked it up. Eren waited so desperately for the call to end and when it did Levi stood up and Eren almost had a heart attack. Should he remind him to finish his sentence? Erwin was his...boyfriend? Fiancé? Not Eren? Maybe he was reading too much into this.

Levi headed toward Marco when he clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"Practice that double axel and remember what I told you about the landing," bag slung over his shoulder, he started walking to the locker room.

"I'll be there in a sec!" Marco called back. Eren made his way to the two standing by the ice when Marco smiled at them both.

"It was nice meeting you two, I'll be practicing again tomorrow with Levi so I'll see you then Eren. Hopefully you'll find time in your schedule to make it too, Jean," he waved as he walked toward the locker room as well. Eren turned to face Jean, an all too pleased look set on his face. He had Jean wrapped around his finger and there was not a damn thing that he could do about it.

"Dirty laundry," Eren reminded him. Jean only rolled his eyes as he complied, knowing there was no out for him. The two took a seat on the bleachers near by and the tension between them for once wasn't so hostile. He tried to get his mind off Levi's confession of Erwin being his something earlier and decided to poke and prod at Jean with questions of his own.

"I always thought you were into Armin to be honest," Jean was almost taken a back when he threw a mixed expression his way.

"Definitely not, he's more like a little brother than anything to me," Eren scoffed.

"Please, he's like _my _little brother, you met him last year."

Jean chuckled as he rolled his eyes. It was weird when he talked to Jean normally, it wasn't like it never happened, there were rare occasions when they would be buddy buddy and this was just one of them. Levi was the first to walk out of the locker room and a pang of hurt hit him. He didn't exactly want to see his face right now knowing that there was a great possibility that there was someone in his life already. Of course he was still going to be his friend, he wasn't some shitty asshole that was going to completely disregard Levi just because he might be taken, no, that wasn't like Eren. He thought it was stupid to get rejected and not be friends anymore because that was just low. He enjoyed Levi's company and Erwin's too. So what if they were dating? They were both really great guys to be around and eventually Eren would come around to be happy for them. Just not right now when he was staring at his crush square in the face, knowing that he'd probably go back to his apartment to greet Erwin at the door. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Levi was now standing in front of him.

"What?" he asked and Levi rolled his eyes.

"I said are you coming over or not tonight?" Eren flitted his eyes away and shook his head.

"I have homework to do actually, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled and Levi shrugged, making his way toward the exit. Marco came right after and waved at the two as he left as well. Eren took a deep sigh before leaning onto his knees, earning a laugh from Jean. He leaned on his knees too, looking forward onto the ice.

"You don't swing for girls do you, Jaeger?" he could tell there was a bit of a mocking tone in his voice but he was aware that it was also a genuine question. Eren scrunched up his face because he wasn't sure exactly how to respond. In high school, there was no questioning his sexuality at all. Back then he knew he liked girls, he even had a girlfriend from freshman year to junior year. Senior year he was still looking at girls, guys were never on his mind ever in his life. But all of a sudden in his second year of college he sees some guy skate on the ice and he's head over heals for him? It just, it didn't make sense to him.

"I dunno. I can't tell if I like him or if I just really admire him for his hard work," Jean chuckled and clasped a hand on his shoulder before standing up.

"If you have to ask yourself that, you probably like him. And when you admit that you do, I'm calling you Gayger for life," Eren shook his head as he let out a small laugh. He couldn't believe Jean Kirschtein was consoling him and it was nothing but odd. He ended up standing as well and they both made their way to the exit.

"Let's get off this topic, it's weighing me down. Besides, you have a load of dirty laundry to do anyway," Jean grumbled loudly and they raced back to the dorm.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'd just like to clarify that ****I myself am not an expert on ice-skating or swimming so if you are one, please correct me on any mistakes I might have made in a review below. I've tried to educate myself to the best of my ability by reading tons of articles for this story, and most of the moves and scores are based off of Olympic athletes lol. I toned down the scores since they are only college students to make it more believable but whatever am I right. See if you can guess which Olympians they're based off of, it's pretty darn obvious.**

**Thanks for reading and please continue to like and if you can, leave a review. Enjoy the chapter!**

**/**

It had escaped Eren's mind that college parties were a thing and that he usually got invited to them only to turn them down until tonight. He was never the party person and occasionally stuck within the comforts of his circle of friends; however for the past few days he needed his mind to be cleared and had seemingly gotten closer with Jean and it was all too weird for the both of them. They still bickered to no end, but the air around them wasn't too high in temperature as it was before; and he couldn't help but find it ironic that going to the ice-skating rink helped cool them down.

Speaking of ice-skating, Eren may or may not have been avoiding Levi for a bit after their last conversation. And yes, he was aware that was a punch below the belt but he couldn't help himself. He knew once he got over it he'd be back watching him at the skating rink and hanging out at his apartment like the straight guy he was. But for now he had to get his sexuality settled and his mind unclogged.

He had taken yet another shot as Connie passed around more drinks. He and Sasha always threw parties and often times there would be complete strangers just there for the loud music and booze. Occasionally he'd see his group of friends somewhere around the crowded hall, but for the most part it was a sea of strangers.

This was the first time he decided to drink and maybe it was because he was confused, he wasn't sure. He was confused about whether or not he was confused. The only thing he was sure about was that he was hammered and he didn't regret it; well perhaps later he would but at the moment there was none. He was smiling, he was happy, he wasn't thinking of Levi, or his sexuality. He was simply in the moment and he was drunk as could be.

Jean eventually made his way over with a cup in his hand.

"Have ya seen Marcus?" he half slurred. Eren squinted his eyes at him before responding with a slur of his own.

"You mean Marco?"

"Polo!" Connie interjected as he made his way across to a different group of people.

"Practice? I dunno. I'm very drunk," that was about as helpful as Eren could be before the two busted out in a side splitting laughter. Marco was probably the best thing to happen to Jean and Eren's friendship. Jean had mellowed down and as much of an asshole as he was, he wasn't nearly as bad as before. They both slumped down onto a couch in someone's dorm room; almost all the rooms in the hall were open and filled with people that he didn't know.

The rest of the night consisted of drinking games, bad dancing, a little bit of throwing up, and a tie around his head. It was well into midnight when Eren finally ended up leaving, though he didn't exactly remember which way was home to begin with. He ended up finding himself sitting on a curb and throwing up his regret onto the asphalt. He figured he'd call Mikasa to come get him but ended up dialing Levi's number instead. He wasn't sure why he did it, maybe it was the alcohol.

Usually he'd pick up his phone after the third ring but it just kept going. Eventually Eren was starting to give up on his call when the ringing stop and a groggy voice answered.

_"Why are you calling me at one in the morning?" _he asked a little peeved. Eren hiccuped into the phone, retracted it from his ear, and placed it back to his head.

"May I ask who's calling?" Eren replied. It was then he realized that he was the one who had dialed in the first place. There was an irritated sigh coming from the other end of the phone and Levi clicked his tongue before speaking again.

_"Eren are you drunk?" _

"Wasted," he dragged his words out slowly. The sound of Levi's voice was starting to anger him for some reason and Eren had never pictured himself to be an angry drunk, but he was beginning to believe that Levi's voice would make him one.

_"Where are you, I'll pick you up," _He could hear rustling coming from the other end, indicating that he was already getting out of bed to come get him; when Eren's anger finally bubbled over the top and he screamed. The line went silent for a second before Levi spoke again.

_"Are you okay? Eren are you still there?" _Eren was so angry and maybe it was just the alcohol. He knew he was being a shitty friend to Levi. Just because he was confused didn't give him the right to be so upset with him. He began to sob as he dropped the phone to the ground, ignoring Levi's pleas of asking him where he was. He was so embarrassed with himself that he really didn't know what to do. The emotions were welling up inside of him and the tears wouldn't stop coming. He wished so badly that he had things figured out and a part of him wishes he had never met Levi. He'd invested so much time into him and got him questioning himself for the first time and he wasn't even sure if he was gay. He wasn't sure if even Levi was gay. He was so angry that even a pompous asshole like Jean had things figured out. Sure he was able to hide it from his team, which he didn't think was healthy at all, but he was able to admit it to himself.

That was the problem, though, Eren didn't even fully know himself how he really felt and that was what was killing him. He never deemed himself homophobic because he had gay friends himself, but he himself liking men? It was just all too weird for him to experience on his own.

He's had crushes before but a feeling like this wasn't like any of the crushes he'd ever had on any girl; he wasn't sure if it was because Levi was a man or if what he was feeling was love.

Pathetic. He was convinced that he didn't know two cents about love, much less over someone he'd met a little over a month ago. He felt himself lean over and fall to the ground, partially because of the alcohol and because he couldn't bring himself to cry that hard sitting up.

He wondered how people would react to him if he ever did deem himself gay. How would his parents react? His friends? Maybe the scary part wasn't so much of the fact that he might be gay but that Levi was not and that he liked him so much and probably wouldn't ever have him. And what was worse was that he liked him too much that he couldn't stay away from him.

Eren was already hitting the healing process of letting someone he never had go and it was hitting him a lot harder than he expected it to be. He sat up to puke somewhere when he looked up to see where he was. Of course, he was sitting on the curb right outside the ice skating rink; this was ridiculous. He began to let out another scream as he banged on the closed doors of the rink and cried.

He could see his shadow being silhouetted onto the door as he turned around to see car lights flashing at him. He was about to curse out the driver for turning his bright lights on his currently sensitive eyes but had passed out in the process.

/

Eren knew he was in bed when his body woke but he kept his eyes shut. He could already feel the shitty effects of alcohol take over his body as his hangover punched him in the face. _Never again_, he thought. His eyes were puffy and swollen and he couldn't remember a thing that happened last night. Maybe he got into a fight or maybe he told his life story and cried about it to some stranger; maybe both, he wasn't sure. All he remembered was that shitty feeling that lingered in the back of his mind and it sucked to not remember why it was so negative. He hoped he didn't do anything he would regret last night or else he'd never bring it in himself to forgive it.

Eventually he opened his eyes and he immediately wished he didn't because the light only contributed to the throbbing head ache he had and he groaned aloud. He looked to his side to see a full glass of water and he thanked the sweet soul that decided to put it there as he grabbed it and chugged it all. It helped, but only partially as he laid back down in bed.

Eren knew it was only a matter of time before Armin came into the bedroom, after hearing his loud groan, it was inevitable that he'd come in to check on him. Luckily, he came in with another glass of water and had a worried look on his face.

"Please don't tell me that you told me not to go to the party because I'm really not in the mood," Eren said. Armin tightened his lips.

"I don't think I need to," he set the glass down and pulled up a rolling chair to sit beside Eren. He knew there was going to be a talk the second he pulled up that chair; he knew.

"Levi dropped you off last night," Armin said, eyes averted. Eren almost choked on the water that he was drinking because _what the hell? _This whole time he'd been avoiding Levi and it was obvious that he was, and all of a sudden he decides to pick him up when he's completely helpless? It looked so bad for Eren and he almost wanted to hop out of bed and apologize to Levi but even still, he wasn't ready to see that face yet.

"What did he say?" he tried not to sound too concerned, but the wavering in his voice told Armin otherwise.

"He said you called him late last night and that out of no where you started screaming and sobbing into the phone. He said he went looking for you and that it didn't take long and that you were at the ice skating rink and that you passed out when he got there. He brought you here and asked me if you'd been okay lately since he hasn't seen you at practice for a while," Eren swallowed. Even Levi knew something was up and he almost felt bad because he must have been frustrated if a new friend just randomly stopped hanging out with him in a split second.

Eren even stopped replying to Hanji's text messages. He figured he'd give himself some space from them for a bit until he figured out what the heck was going on in his mind and that he'd get over Levi eventually and hang out with them again.

Except he wasn't getting over Levi and was beginning to think this wasn't just some weird phase. Armin was giving him a look and Eren knew what he was thinking. He knew he had to talk to Levi to clear the air because what it was doing to Eren was both physically and mentally exhausting. He'd give himself a couple hours to rest and then he'd head over to wherever he'd be.

"Did he tell you if he was going to practice today?" there was a downcast look on his face when he finally eyed him.

"His competition is today, Eren," immediately Eren's heart was in his throat. He jumped out of bed and ignored his body's attempt to tell him to lie back down. Armin was taken aback and tried to get him back in bed as well but Eren wouldn't listen. He rummaged through the pockets of his pants and his drawers to find the paper that Levi had given him when they first met; that of which had all the information on where and when the competition would be. His heart calmed down a bit when he found the crumpled up paper and read the information. He looked at the clock and the competition started thirty minutes ago.

Clumsy feet tripped across the room as he tried to find some clean articles of clothing and left without so much as an explanation to Armin before hopping on his bike and biking his way to the ice-skating rink. The feeling of really wanting to see Levi and not wanting to see Levi was drilling into his brain and so he decided to push that back into the recesses of his mind and decided to stick to his promise of watching his competition.

Whether or not he was gay and liked Levi or not, he would be there for him as a good friend would be and he'd figure out his emotions later.

His head ache was killing him and all the strain he was forcing onto himself was not helping at all. By the time he got there he practically had to beg to be let in and even made the excuse that he was one of the figure skaters to perform. The man at the door wasn't convinced one bit about that story but let him in anyway, sensing the urgency of his being there. He the paid for the ticket and ran inside, trying not to make too much of a noise seeing that there was already somebody on the ice.

His eyes widened when he realized that it was Levi who was skating and there was a weird expression on his face. He didn't look so calm and collected like he did during practice and Eren wasn't about to assume that Levi was one to get stage fright and choke, that was just something that Levi was not.

He'd just landed his triple toe triple axel and was getting ready to do a quadruple jump—that of which Eren read had never been done landed in competition—and as he jumped, he could feel everyone in the stadium hold their breath and it was almost like they all counted the revolutions together, once, twice, three times, four. His skate slipped and he tumbled down only to swing right back up again and there was a mixture of surprise and courtesy clapping in the audience. Eren wasn't sure how to feel because he'd never seen Levi so much as twitch when he landed jumps and just now he fell completely, it was almost like watching someone get punched.

Just then he did a triple spin and into a double and landed those perfectly, earning _ooh's _and _aah's _from the audience. Eren could tell he was putting in so many small different moves into his routine that others usually did not, and that was what would make up for his fall, he was sure of it. Just as his performance came to a close, he skated back to the center of the rink and began to turn his body into a Biellmann spin and spun faster and faster until he landed one skate firmly on the ice, stopping his rotations and threw a hand in the air.

He earned a standing ovation from the audience and he wished he saw the full thing. Levi was taking his bows when flowers and gifts were being thrown onto the ice and sweepers skated by to pick them up. When Levi turned to his side of the audience his eyes immediately locked with Eren's, completely unaware that he'd been there. Levi sped up his bows as he skated off the ice, still looking back at Eren every now and then before he was ushered by his coach to the kiss and cry area to be told his score. His face was being broad casted on the screen along with his coach as the score was being told. There was a loud roar from the audience as his score was both told over the speakers and displayed on the scoreboard at 99.84 and there was a look of relief on Levi's face. The camera was switched off and people then turned their attention to the next skater who was warming up on the ice and when Eren looked closer, he saw that it was Marco and he wondered if Jean made it to watch him.

He didn't notice that Levi had made his way back to Eren who still was standing off to the side of the bleachers when Levi embraced him in a tight hug. Eren was taken aback for a second before Levi pulled away and then punched him in the arm a bit harder than usual.

"What was that for?" Eren whispered harshly as he rubbed his arm. Levi walked them over to a spot where they could talk without bothering anyone else. There was a stern look on Levi's face when he answered him.

"That was for scaring the shit out of me last night when you screamed on the phone and didn't tell me where you were," Eren blushed, thinking back as he tried to remember.

"I was drunk."

"Yes I was aware of that," his arms were crossed and Eren felt like it was high school all over again and he was earning a strict talking to from a teacher. Eventually he sighed and he let his arms down.

"What were you thinking?" Eren could only shrug when two figures came around the corner to congratulate Levi, those two being Hanji and Erwin. There was a sense of overwhelming in Eren when he looked at the three people he had so obviously avoided the past few days and couldn't help but feel like some tenuous fourth space.

"Where have you been Eren? Feels like I haven't seen you in forever!" Hanji exclaimed as she slung an arm around his shoulder. He spotted Erwin whispering something into Levi's ear with a big grin on his face and that was just about as much as Eren could take before he brushed Hanji's arm off his shoulder and exited the building only to be followed be Levi.

"Why the fuck are you being such a shitty brat?" Levi called after him and there was a twinge of real anger in his voice that he'd never heard directed at him before. Eren was started to feel the same shitty emotions he had prior to coming and was beginning to wonder if he should have ever showed up in the first place.

"Hey, Eren, don't fucking ignore me tell me—"

"Why do you even care! Why do you keep wanting to talk to me and hang out with all the time when you have Erwin? I'm sorry, I know that's such a shitty thing for me to do alright? I just need some space from you just so I have enough time to _get over you, you big jerk!_" By then Eren had lost his cool and was already slumping his body over to sit on the ground and cry hot angry tears. He punched a fist at the ground, never wanting to forgive himself for acting so stupid in front of him.

It didn't even matter for Eren if Levi was gay or not because if he was he probably had Erwin and if he wasn't then of course Eren could never have him and to be honest, he wasn't sure which was worse. He knew all too well how selfish he was acting for wanting Levi this bad but it was something that couldn't be helped especially with this new emotion clinging onto Eren like an itch that wouldn't go away.

"I've been trying to figure out what you are to me for so long and I," he choked up for a second, "It's been so damn frustrating for me because I've never liked a guy before and I'm sorry if you're grossed out that I like you, I never thought I would either. But I like you too much, more than any girl I've ever been with and I don't know what to do with myself and I love hanging out with you and Hanji and Erwin, but I just can't keep seeing you be with him when I feel like this—" he was cut off in surprise when Levi bent down to kiss him lightly on the forehead before he stooped down to sit on the ground with him.

"Jesus Eren, there's nothing going on between Erwin and I, he's my best friend."

"Best friend?" he rolled his eyes and Eren began to brace himself for Levi to tell him that he was straight and that it would never work out between them. He hoped whatever he said wouldn't be too big of a punch to his face.

"Yeah, and the only reason I'd been talking to him a lot more than usual lately was because of _you _you damn idiot," he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not grossed out that you like me, I like you too and that's what I've been talking to Erwin about."

"Wait, why didn't you tell me you were gay?"

"Because I didn't know I was til I met you!" It was almost unbelievable, the situation they'd gotten themselves into. They were staring at each other before one of them started to chuckle, who it was Eren wasn't sure, only that they both ended up laughing stupidly in the middle of the parking lot and it almost too ridiculous.

"So this whole time we were getting worked up over liking each other but just never admitted it because we both just came out of the closet?" Eren asked.

"They say your "outting" experience is unique to everyone," he shrugged, a grin still in tact on his face. A huge wave of relief washed over Eren and it felt so nice to admit something he'd so profusely held back. Now it was only a matter of time for his friends to find out and luckily for him, he had great friends. Why he was so worried to tell them in the first place, he wasn't sure, but what he was sure about was that his parents would want to meet him and that might be a little bit of a shocker to them. He wasn't sure how they'd react, but he knew Mikasa and Armin would have his back one hundred percent.

It was then he realized that Levi was still in his outfit and that they were still at the competition. He probably missed Marco's performance by now and was about to hop to his feet when he had a question bubbling up in him.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked. Levi blinked and it almost looked like he was going to say no. It was a miracle that he complied and Eren leaned forward for his first kiss as an out of the closet man. His lips weren't as soft as a womans and they were thin, but he'd take that over any girl any day since it seemed like he was crazy over the damn guy and the thought made him smile into the other's mouth and Levi chuckled before getting up and hoisted Eren to his feet.

"What happened back there on the ice by the way? I've never seen you fall," Eren asked as they made their way back inside.

"Truthfully, I was so used to having you watch me in the stands and the fact that I didn't know you were there and you were supposed to be resting because I was fucking worried about you probably set me off," Eren blushed and he felt like a high school girl, definitely a feeling he'd never thought he'd feel before. He apologized quickly before Levi waved a hand at him.

"It's not your fault, besides, I still have the highest score and the free skating part of the competition is tomorrow, and that's when it really counts."

"I'll be there for sure and I'll root you on," Eren said affirmatively.

"Don't you have a class tomorrow?" Eren only shrugged as he threw a sly smile at Levi earning him one of his fabulous eye rolls and a punch to the arm, but not before a quick kiss on the cheek as he opened the door and they walked back inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took a bit longer to update this chapter, college papers and school work are creeping up on me. **

** Our little twist of angst is over and we're moving on with more awkward fluff, what you all came to read the story for in the first place I'm assuming. **

** I really liked the questioning of sexuality in the last few chapters, and here you'll see not so much that, but how Eren deals with his new sexuality toward the same gender. I hope you guys are fine with all this sex questioning stuff since a lot of fics don't normally deal with that topic; I'm sure it's all a little bit foreign to you but it goes with the story I promise!**

**Also yes this is the last chapter and it is a bit short and sweet. HOWEVER, there will be an epilogue, I promise.**

** I feel like it's become a slogan of mine to say thanks for sticking around at the end of these author notes so;**

** Thanks for sticking around! ****Enjoy the last chapter!**

**/**

Eren had never felt more uncomfortable in the entirety of his life. He'd just come from the competition and was currently sitting in a booth at an Olive Garden with Levi, Jean and Marco to celebrate Levi's highest score in the short program and Marco's third. Apparently Jean had been there the whole time in a somewhat pathetic disguise—that of which consisted of his everyday attire with the exception of a baseball cap and shades. Eren called him out the second he saw him and luckily for them Marco was there to intervene before they could start throwing fists.

He would never stop giving Jean shit for liking Marco. After all, he had made fun of the sport and even Levi and the second he found a guy he was into he changed completely. They were both able to maintain their temper around each other for the most part, but only because aside from having Armin stop them they had Marco. The two were saints and their calm standpoint was rubbing off on the two of them; however that cool exterior was about to break from the awkward dinner Marco had insisted they have.

Levi looked completely unphased, Jean looked like he was too happy for his life but also wanted to punch something at the same time, Marco seemed to be oblivious to the atmosphere and kept up the small talk around the table, and Eren, he was just a mess. He kept bouncing his leg up and down and he had to make sure he wasn't eating or drinking too fast. He was a little pissed off that he was getting so flustered like this on a date, it wasn't like he'd never not been on one before—he has. Except, he'd only been on dates with girls and never double dated. This was like a big smack to his face and all the gay was overwhelming to him. Hell, he had just come out about an hour ago and he was already on a date!

His thoughts were interrupted when Levi placed a hand on his knee and his leg stopped bouncing completely. Eren eyed him while he continued to eat. He never moved his hand, it just stayed there idly on his knee and he figured Levi must've known he was nervous because with his hand just sitting there already made him ten times more relaxed. He reminded himself to thank him for that later.

"I hope we do well tomorrow, it was all thanks to Levi that I even placed," Marco said.

"You did good jumps," Jean said. Eren painfully held in a laugh he so badly wanted to let out because that was literally the first thing he said to Levi when he met him and didn't know the names of any of the moves. He could feel Jean glaring at him and Eren only shoveled more food into his mouth.

"You would've placed without me, your spins and axels were already fine," Levi said plainly.

"But you helped me better them. You should give yourself some credibility."

"You really are talented," Eren said without realizing. He looked up to see a small smile placed on Levi's lips and yes, Eren took note that he would have to compliment him more so he could get another look at the stunningly beautiful smile he so rarely showed.

The night went on and the table became less awkward and was filled with laughter; well, laughter and the occasional know it all smirk that Levi gave every now and then. Eren learned a lot about Marco and even a few things about Jean. He had a feeling that it would take a while for Marco to realize how Jean felt about him and it was a thing he decided Jean would have to figure out on his own. Marco was just one of those guys that everyone was nice to that he never knew whether or not he was being hit on.

Eventually, Marco and Jean went their separate ways and Levi drove him back to his dorm. As they made their way up the steps they stood in front of the door for a little bit. Eren wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to kiss him or if Levi was going to so he ended up rocking back and forth on his feet until Levi rolled his eyes.

"Oh for crying out loud," he pulled him by the arm and kissed him quickly on the cheek. Eren was biting the inside of his mouth when Levi stood back again and they were both smiling.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Eren waved as he opened the door to his dorm. He stood at the doorway and watched Levi drive away before he shut it and leaned a little weakly against the door. His head was killing him the whole day and part of him was regretting ever drinking alcohol. Never again. He sighed as he plopped down on the couch just as Armin turned the corner with a big grin on his face.

"So you and Levi," he started. Eren groaned before he threw a pillow at Armin and covered his face. He felt the couch dip as Armin sat down and Eren couldn't help but smile up at him. There was no way he could ever be mad at that guy.

"You spied on us? Didn't think that was in your nature, Armin," Eren joked as he nudged him with his foot.

"In all honesty I was eating dinner at the table when I heard your footsteps coming but you didn't come in. Kind of your fault," Eren gaped his mouth at him and they both laughed. He was sitting up now as he remembered the kiss he received not too long ago. His smile must've been obvious since Armin was eying him suspiciously when Eren hugged a pillow.

"What are you smiling about?" Eren looked up and thought, _fuck it, he's my best friend, _and huffed out some air.

"Our mouths might have touched."

/

Eren was sitting in the front of Levi's car as they made their way to the ice rink. He ended up skipping his morning class and Levi had picked him up early so he could get warmed up for his performance and Eren's newly out-of-the-closet self was immediately shut down to any mouth to mouth contact with Levi at his front door.

Apparently kissing him yesterday without taking a shower prior to showing up and a morning breath reeking of a bad hangover was not the best idea on his part and ultimately lost a bit of Levi's trust—well, trust in cleanliness, if that was even a thing.

"If you think I'm kissing that garbage can of a mouth of yours, you're wrong," were the first words he said when he showed up that morning. It only left Eren's mouth hanging for a less than a second before he closed it so Levi wouldn't smell his morning breath and make some snarky comment about it. Eren wasn't at all upset, not at the least; seeing that he had just come out yesterday to the person that caused him all the confusion in the first place, he still felt a little shy with being on that level of physicality with him. He was so used to bickering with him and earning punches to the arm but now what, a kiss to the cheek?

It wasn't particularly a bad thing—the thought sounded nice—however, he'd never been with a man, nor did he know when was the right time to really initiate any sort of skin ship. It was something he knew he was thinking too much about but that was just who he was, unfortunately.

They neared the ice rink and pulled into the parking lot. At first they just stayed there, neither one of them talking. It would have been a comfortable silence had they not confessed their feelings to each other just yesterday in that same parking lot. Eren would say something if he knew what to say and he wished one of them would just talk already. He skimmed his eyes over to Levi who looked like he was thinking about something. Eventually he turned to him and it caught Eren off guard.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but don't tell Hanji or Erwin anything just yet. I'll tell them after the competition."

"I don't mind, why is that anyway?" he asked. Levi almost snorted.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to tell Hanji that we're a thing before my competition? She'll be whooping and hollering from her seat," Eren laughed out loud earning an eye rolling smile from Levi who had reached his hand over ruffled his hair. Eren's laughing turned into a grunt as he leaned back into his seat.

"You're such a—"

"If you say kid or brat I will leave you right now, I will leave you Levi in this parking lot right now do not say it," Levi only blew out a satisfied puff of air before opening the door and stepping out.

"I was gonna say _cutie_," Eren's cheeks were reddening by the second and his footsteps already stopped short behind Levi who was still walking forward. But then again, when was that word ever in Levi's vocabulary?

"Hey yeah right you never call me that you were gonna say kid and you got worried I was gonna leave. You love me!" he called after him. All he heard was a chuckle from Levi who's back was still turned to him and yes, this was the kind of relationship he wanted for so long.

Just as Eren caught up to him before the entrance, Levi turned around abruptly causing Eren to stumble in his tracks. What he did next might have been the corniest move he'd ever seen anyone do, yet the whole thing made him blush like a happy idiot.

Levi kissed the tips of his finger tips and placed them in the palm of Eren's hand.

"If I win the gold, I'm going to wave this hand in the air and hold up the numbers one, four, three with my fingers," at first Eren was a little bit confused but when Levi rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper, "It means I love you," and walked into the rink without so much as a word, Eren so badly wanted to throw his arms around him and plant a big one right on his mouth.

The competition began and he took his seat next to Erwin, Hanji and Jean. They all watched together and each skater really didn't compare to the performance Levi had shown. It was better than any practice he'd ever witnessed and everyone was on the edge of their seats when he performed his quadruple axel and landed it perfectly. Flowers were thrown onto the ice just as his performance ended and he skated off so coolly off to the kiss and cry area. They all held their breaths as the scores were given.

Eren's whole world went silent and he didn't need to hear the score to know that Levi won the gold. He didn't need to hear Hanji and Erwin's whooping and hollering or the gold medal being placed around his neck. He didn't need to see or hear any of that because when Levi's face was on the monitor and held up the numbers 143 on his fingers he knew right away that not only had Levi won the gold, but that Eren was the one who won the biggest prize of all.

/

When Eren finally came out to his friends, there was a lot of shock as well as a lot of love. He was so grateful to have the wonderful friends that he had and he couldn't ask for any better. Yes, including Jean. It was Connie who was asking all the questions first as they sat around Eren's dorm room.

"I never thought you'd be gay, dude. Not that that's a bad thing, I'm happy for you! I'm happy you told us, but you just seemed like. I mean, you had girlfriends in high school."

"Yeah I used to even have a crush on you," Sasha pointed out causing Connie to turn his attention to his girlfriend.

"But I ended up picking you!" she argued. They all laughed together and the night continued with questions on who he was and what he did. He decided he would answer all their questions to the best of his ability but if they wanted to meet him, it'd have to be individually. He felt like Levi would intimidate them if he met them all as a crowd; he wasn't exactly the people person but maybe if he slowly introduced them one by one, they wouldn't feel so salty about him.

Once everyone was dry out of questions they all retreated back to their own dorms and gave Eren warm hugs. He was still sitting on the couch with Armin and Mikasa right across from him and the phone on the table. Coming out to his friends was the easy part. They were all his peers so they knew what it was like to go through so many different emotions and feelings. His parents, however, were not of the same generation and were more traditional. He loved his parents to death and they were probably his biggest fans. They supported him in whatever it was that he did and he couldn't be any more grateful to them. They were the ones who raised him to be the man he was today.

He and Levi had been officially together for two weeks and during those two weeks he was working up the courage to tell his parents. For some reason it felt scarier to do it over the phone because he couldn't see their faces to know their reactions. His thoughts were interrupted when Mikasa's hand lightly touched his knee.

"You don't have to do this tonight, you just came out to all our friends," she reassured him. Eren bit his cheek and shook his head.

"I've gotta get this out now while I can or else I don't think I'll ever be able to tell them," Mikasa nodded her head and she and Armin sat with him for all the thirty or so minutes it took for him to actually dial the long distance number. He could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage as the phone kept ringing. He put the phone on speaker and set it on the table. Eventually the ringing stopped and there was a tired voice on the other end.

_"My boy must be home sick to be calling at eleven at night,"_ there was a tired chuckle from his mom and it almost put Eren at ease to hear her laugh.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up. Dad's still awake right? Can you put him on the phone too? I need to tell you guys something," there was a pause before she answered.

_"Okay, is something wrong?"_ right away her voice sounded worried.

_"Eren, what's going on?"_ his dad's voice was now present on the line as well and he could feel his throat closing up. He knew he was crying but he tried to calm his shaky voice to speak.

"Do you guys love me?" he asked as his voice almost cracked.

_"Of course we do Eren, there's nothing in the world that could make us stop loving you. We're your parents,"_ his mom said.

"Promise?" it was his dad's turn to answer.

_"Yes Eren, we promise we love you no matter what,"_ he almost felt bad making his parents worry like this all the way across the world. He took a deep shaky breath as Mikasa and Armin gave him a light squeeze on his hand.

"Mom, Dad, I'm gay."

He was sniffling already when the line went silent but not dead. It was a while before anyone spoke so Eren decided to talk.

"Are you still there?"

_"Yes honey, we're still here."_

"Do you hate me?"

_"Eren," _it was his dad. _"We told you there was nothing in the world that could make us hate you. You and Mikasa are our pride and joy."_

_ "We're so proud of you for telling us and we're sorry we can't be there to hug you. We love you so much." _

There was a lot of crying that night and Eren didn't care about the bill for his long distance call. He was just so relieved to have finally gotten it off his chest. He could tell his mom was crying too and he so badly wanted to be there to embrace them both in his arms.

They asked if he had a boyfriend and he told them about him. He told him about how they met and how good of an ice skater he was. He told them how he motivated him to be a better person and that he wished they could meet him someday.

Eventually Armin and Mikasa came onto the phone and they all talked. It was like a big reuniong and Armin was practically family to them.

_"Well if it isn't our daughter and our other son. Were you two there the whole time?" _his dad joked. They always joked around how Armin was like a third child to them; they even helped pay for his tuition fees just so he could go to the same school as both Mikasa and Eren.

They were like a happy family and it got so late that they had to pry the phone away from Eren's hand. Before they hung up, there was a lot of "I love you's" being thrown around and eventually they finally hung up.

Mikasa gave him a big hug before she left and Armin headed off to bed as well. Eren sank himself in his sheets before texting Levi.

_143_, he messaged him. It took seconds for Levi to reply and his message set his nerves at ease.

_143 more._


End file.
